It Had To Be You
by noblecrescent
Summary: Her focus has always been to graduate & stabilize her job - no where in there did that include becoming a metahuman. Left with a side Belén fears, she tries to make a life with Star Labs & Barry Allen. Despite the darkness, the secrets & the fear driving she & Barry apart, it never lasts...because in the end: "There can never be another. It had to be you," they say to each other.
1. Ready or Not

_**Author's Note:** _ Hello and welcome to my first OC/Flash story! This story will cover the entire first season of the Flash, choosing scenes I deem important in order to tell the story. A note: for this story, I am choosing to omit the WestAllen storyline simply because I prefer not to make a jealous Iris and problematic relationship with the OC. So, in this story Barry just never had a crush on Iris - they are _family_. A second note, the cover will be up soon!

The OC introduced will look like the actress **_Lauren Conrad_** with caramel brown hair leading down to blonde tips (ombre-hair) and dark brown eyes.

A third note: the accent over the ' é ' means there's an emphasis in that syllable; you'll see what I mean when it comes up ;)

* * *

 **2 Months after the Particle Accelerator.**

A young man stood in the middle of an abandoned warehouse with hands extended on either side of him. He didn't seem very bothered by the seven people standing across him with guns aimed in his direction.

"You need to give it up," one of the men across moved forwards, intending on being threatening but his hand holding his gun shook.

The young man just smiled. "I'm done being used by you and your group, Harold." He flung a hand to the side and as he did the other man, Harold, was thrown to the side. Harold's body hit a metal machine and was effectively knocked out cold.

"Start shooting!" someone else in the group ordered.

The young man smirked and started flinging his hands to the sides repeatedly, deflecting the incoming bullets. He then started pushing the nearby tables against the group along with chairs and other movable pieces of furniture. In no time he had brought down the group of criminals without so much a sweat.

"Finally," he breathed in knowing this was the beginning of his freedom again. He turned calmly away and started for the office near the entrance of the warehouse. There he sat down at the desk and opened up a laptop. He started searching through the internet to see what he could find on a specific metahuman he had heard the band of criminals repeatedly talk about. He hadn't been allowed near any electronic devices unsupervised so he wasn't too sure about his suspicions.

"There you are," he stopped at a picture of a woman dressed in purple leather. Half of her face was covered in a purple mask but the young man recognized the woman nonetheless. "Sister," he smiled widely. "I'm coming for you."

~ 0 ~

 **2 Months Earlier: The Day of the Particle Accelerator.**

In Central City Picture News, a young woman anxiously stood in front of a printer that was spewing out papers belonging to her mentor. Her long, caramel-colored hair with ombre-blonde tips bounced as she impatiently waited for the printer to be done.

"Are my papers done?" shouted Linda Park from her desk, tapping her fingers along her desk as she pretended to be heavily annoyed. She was actually very amused as she watched her favorite intern try to collect the papers - she always made the funniest faces!

The young woman whirled around to face Linda, looking frantic. "Just one more second, promise!"

Linda mumbled something under her breath then returned to her work on the computer. Though her eyes did flicker every now and then at the ombre-blonde intern just to see how things were going.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, already," the ombre-blonde chewed on her nail until the printer finished up. She cheered and gathered up the papers then ran for Linda's desk. "Done, ha!" she slammed the papers on the desk.

Linda looked up seeming unimpressed with the woman's blunt slam. "You are so lucky it's me and not Larkin or you'd be fired."

The woman widely smiled at the comment and twirled her fingers around her blonde tips, "Which is why I love you the most. You're cool, Linda."

Linda remained blank for a minute or two before she gave an unprofessional snort and laughed, "You are such a kiss ass, Belén."

The woman, Belén, blushed as she laughed too, "I'm an intern, it's kinda what we do."

"The _new_ ones," Linda corrected her then turned her chair for her computer, "One more year and you'll be a reporter. But look, I've got an assignment for you right now that could win you some points."

Belén tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes in thought, "Would this assignment by any chance happen to be another paper that you didn't want to write so now you are going to tell me to do it instead? Because of it is, I'd rather go have another battle with the printer."

"Just do me this one okay? It's some paper that's not on sports and I frankly have a date I don't want to cancel on. Here, take a look," Linda motioned for Belén to look at her computer screen where she had a Star Labs page opened up, "We need a paper on the accelerator going off in some hours. There's some grand show tonight and we need something written," she turned her chair to Belén, "Preferably something fantastic if you could."

Belén blinked and quickly looked at Linda, "C'mon, Linda, I don't understand anything about that thing. I want to help but I don't know how."

"Ask your dad," Linda seemed not to care by the blank face she wore, "Or your brother. They're both freaky geniuses. Just do it. I'm letting you do this so that you can prove you have what it takes to become a real journalist. This is your chance, Belén Palayta. Will you take it?"

Belén's eyes flickered to the computer screen then to Linda, clearly indecisive. But in the end, as Linda suspected, Belén ended up nodding in agreement, "Okay, I'll do it."

Linda clapped and stood up from her chair to go retrieve necessary papers for Belén, "It'll be alright, you'll see."

Belén took a deep sigh as she sat down on Linda's chair, getting a closer look at the news on the screen. She knew very well what Star Labs was intending on doing and while she didn't understand a great deal of the purpose, she was curious to see it unfold.

~ 0 ~

Belén pulled the glass door of CC Jitters and stepped inside with an air of nervousness that was etched onto her face so clearly her friend, a barista, noticed with just one look. Iris West finished handing a customer a mug of coffee just as Belén reached the register.

"Alright," the young barista hurried behind the register, "What's the problem, Belén?" it wasn't often her friend had problems and when they did they were truly troubling ones. She'd learned that only a month after meeting Belén in college.

Belén released a sigh of distress as her eyes scanned the menu above them, "I got an important article to do for tonight."

Hearing that news, Iris smiled, "Congratulations," she knew Belén was closer to acquiring a full paying job and if she was being handed important articles it only meant she was one step closer.

"It's on Star Labs' Particle accelerator," Belén finally met Iris' eyes.

"Oh…" Iris' smile faded as she now understood the dilemma Belén was in, "...and your dad…?"

"Doesn't want me to do it," Belén confirmed her suspicions.

"And are you going to listen?"

"Hell no."

Iris nodded with understanding, "So there's more problems?"

"Oh yes," Belén sighed once more, letting her gaze temporarily fall to the counter, "He knows it's my job. I can't listen to him this time."

Iris reached to touch Belén's arm, having that warm, comforting smile on her face, "Hey, you do what you need to do. Besides, maybe if you come by tonight's show we can meet up."

Belén seemed to take that with a good mood, "Really? You're coming too?"

"Mhm, it's an assignment for class. I'm dragging my best friend to help me understand what the hell they're going to say."

Belén chuckled, "I wish I could do the same with Rayan. I don't understand anything of that science stuff."

"Ah, but you're his twin, make him," Iris pointed at her.

"Yeah, I sort of figured out I couldn't make him do everything I wanted," Belén dramatically sighed. "Besides," she got serious again, "even if I asked him, I know he couldn't come. He has some engineering event tonight at his college. He'll be out late."

"Well," Iris considered for a moment, "If worst comes to worst, you can always borrow Barry. He's such a pushover you can definitely get explanations from him."

Belén smiled and rolled her eyes, "That's abuse and I don't think I want to do that to a guy I've never even met. It's a bit rude don't you think?"

Iris feigned a thinking face for a minute or so before shaking her head. "No, not really."

Belén put on on a scolding look on her friend, "You're evil," she pointed, "And I want no part in it."

Iris rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Whatever you say, Belén. But the offer stands. We'll be there at Star Labs tonight as well if you want to meet up."

"See? Now that I can do," Belén nodded happily, something that made Iris laugh. "Now give me an espresso and I can be on my way."

"Sure thing," Iris nodded back and went to prepare her drink. Belén sighed her worried sigh while Iris left. She was still pretty worried over what her father would say when he learned that in order to do the paper she would have to visit Star Labs on the day the Particle Accelerator would go off.

That...would not be an easy discussion.

~ 0 ~

After her shift ended, Iris headed on over to the Central City Police Department, CCPD, to retrieve her best friend, almost brother really, Barry Allen. As she assumed before walking in, he was busy in his forensics work.

"Hey! I am ready to see this atom smasher smashing," she strode into the lab and stopped beside Barry's table, shooting him one of those nice smiles that really just said to hurry the hell up.

Feeling like he was going to get scolded anyways, Barry came out with the blatant truth, "There was a shooting today. Your dad needs me to process some evidence. Which means I don't know if we're gonna be able to make it to Star Labs."

"Seeing this thing turn on is like your dream," Iris tilted her head, mocking him, "Your sad little nerdy dream. Plus, I canceled a date for this," she made an 'o' when she saw Barry's fries sitting at the edge of the table, "Also-" she quickly grabbed some and started chewing on them, "-I may or may not have told a friend you'd help her with her article on that machine thing."

"First of all, hands off my fries," Barry tried taking back his lunch but Iris smirked and snatched the entire box before backtracking away. Seeing there was no winning with the woman, Barry huffed and plopped back on his stool.

"Was there a second of all somewhere in there?" Iris asked after swallowing down.

"You know I'm okay with helping people but I would prefer if you didn't promise me off to someone without telling me first."

Iris cheekily smiled and returned with only half of his fries, "But that's what you're all about, isn't it? Helping people? She needed help - I found a solution. She's like me, normal, and she doesn't quite understand what's so important about this particle accelerator nor the people who run it."

Barry looked almost offended by that last statement, "People who run it? Harrison Wells' work in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything they're doing at CERN."

Iris gave him a pointed look, "You're doing that thing where you're not speaking English."

"Okay," Barry got up from his stool again and walked over to a white board. He picked up a marker and drew a dot on it, "Just imagine that that dot is everything the human race has ever learned until this moment."

"Does that include twerking?"

Barry then made a motion to the rest of the space on the board, "That is everything we could learn from the particle accelerator. It's a whole new way of looking at physics. It will literally change the way that we think about everything."

Iris stared long and hard at the board but in the end she made a face and stated, "You gotta get yourself a girlfriend."

Behind them came in Iris' father, Joe West, who promptly warned his daughter, "Hey, leave him alone, he's working."

Iris mocked a sigh and turned to Joe, wearing a smile on her face, "Hi, Dad. Your testing is done," she gestured to the tubes Barry had been working on when she came in.

Barry nodded in agreement, "I think the Mardon brothers are hiding on a farm. The fecal matter I found on the street, it was cow manure, which contains traces of oxytetracycline. It's an antibiotic. There are only four farms in the area that still use it in their feed. I bet you find a very sweet Shelby parked at one of them."

And while Iris didn't completely understand all that Barry had said she did get the most important thing out of it, "Dad, seeing as how Barry solved your poop problem, how about letting him go to Star Labs tonight?"

Joe made a motion for them to leave, "Fine, go."

"Yes!" Iris cheered and gestured for Barry to get going.

"Thank you, Joe," Barry had barely any time to say before Iris dragged him out of the lab.

~ 0 ~

In the popular Star Labs everything was bustling with energy and impatience for the great reveal of the Particle Accelerator. Iris and Barry walked in calmly conversing over Barry's abrupt decision to take a trip to the next city over, Starling City, in secrecy and under lies.

"Did you find proof of the impossible in Starling City, or did you just make my dad mad for no reason?" Iris couldn't help chuckle as she thought back to her father and how angry he was after discovering Barry's trip. He shot out all the punishments Barry would get despite Barry not even living with them anymore.

"Quite…" Barry blinked in surprise, not quite over what he had found in the next city over. But of course to his misfortune, he couldn't tell his best friend any of it.

Iris didn't guess anything else was going on in his mind. She only smiled and kept looking forwards, until she found Belén across them. Giddy to see someone who could understand how confusing all the sciency parts were, Iris promptly dragged Barry towards her friend.

Belén seemed to be intently listening to another, slightly older, woman standing in front of her. The woman was talking rather quick much to Belén's dismay but even that didn't make her interrupt.

"Now, do you think you got that for your paper?" the woman asked after she'd finished her long lecture.

Belén gave a nod but after resigning to her lack of knowledge she shook her head, "Nope, sorry, did not get that."

The woman sighed and looked away. "Belén!"

Belén scrunched her nose and made a frantic gesture with her hands. "I'm sorry, Nina! What do you want me to do? I am way out of my element here!"

"No kidding," Nina laughed.

"Where have I heard a conversation like this before?" Iris teasingly asked upon joining the two women. She looked up at Barry with an almost scolding gaze.

"It's not my fault you can't understand such a simple concept," Barry gave a nonchalant shrug, only irritating Iris.

"It's a bit difficult to do so when you're talking at a lightning speed!"

"I do not!"

"You want to bet?"

"Funny, now it feels like a conversation _I've_ had before," Belén spoke up with a rather amused look on her face, "Isn't that right Nina?" she looked to her friend beside her.

"Right," Nina she nodded, smiling in amusement.

Iris shook her head, sharing Belén's same irritation with their friends. She decided to skip disagreements and go to the happy introduction stage instead, "Barry, this is Belén - she's the one that needed more help on her paper."

Embarrassed Iris had actually gone to Barry with the story, Belén blushed and quickly clarified, "Which I already took care of as you can sorta see," she gestured to Nina, "I also have a smarter friend unwilling to help - wait!" she realized how that sounded badder than she thought it would have and quickly tried mending it, "Not that, not that I knew you would be unwilling to help or anything. I just...I just figured you wouldn't wanna help someone you haven't even met properly. I considered it was a hell of a lot of rudeness…"

Nina liked watching Belén ramble on her in her quirky fits but she decided this moment was not a good one and promptly stepped in to save her. With a hand placed over Belén's mouth, Nina smiled at Barry, "She means it's nice to meet you and would have thanked you for your help."

Belén pushed Nina's hand off her and agreed with a nod, "Yes, that's what I wanted to say. Sorry I couldn't say that in a shorter way."

Barry had found himself rather amused by the ombre-haired woman. He knew what it felt like to ramble on and on yet not be able to make a point. He made a motion it was all fine and added, "I'm glad you found someone to help you. Iris always makes a fuss when her assignments are, and I quote," he raised his fingers and made air quotations with them, "Sciency and complicated," while Belén laughed, Iris smacked him on the arm.

"I don't say that!" Iris nearly shouted.

"It's okay, Iris. I hate them too," Belén said before they would start another banter, "I didn't choose this topic though - my mentor Linda assigned me this paper for next week's newspaper. Says it's my big chance and all."

"You work at CC Pictures?" Barry questioned her, curiously.

"Well, it's kinda a job but not really but kind of," Belén shook her head, "Nope, that didn't make sense did it? I'm an intern," she said before more words found their way out of her mouth.

"And she's almost a full paid journalist," Iris remarked afterwards, "Kind of jealous, Belén."

"Well you know, they hire almost every year. I could ask Linda and see if she would be willing to get you a spot."

Iris' mouth fell open at the offer, "Really!? You think you could do that!?"

"Maybe you can start as an intern or something," Belén smiled at her friend's excitement, "And maybe I can even take a crack at it and torture you as an intern...but you know not really. I don't like being mean."

"Nope," agreed Nina, "She just likes to talk a lot."

Belén mocked a glare but said nothing back. There was nothing wrong with talking a lot. She just sometimes had a tendency to say more than what was needed. And sometimes, that caused some problems with people who didn't know that's how she was.

"C'mon, Belén, if you're going to use me you'll need to be finished before ten," Nina warned then elaborated for Iris and Barry, "I have a night shift at the hospital tonight and I cannot be late. Belén has a tendency to forget things so I can be here far longer than I can."

Disappointed, Belén pouted, "Can we not discredit me in front of someone new?" she looked to Barry, "I do not forget everything."

"Ah, it's okay," Iris spoke before he did, "Barry's late for everything."

"I agree with her," Barry pointed to Belén, "Don't discredit me in front of new people."

"It makes you sound like a flake," Belén blurted what she thought had been a silent thought. She gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes half widened in horror, "I am _so_ sorry…"

Barry didn't look so offended as he laughed. Nina decided it was once again time to save her friend, "We'll see you guys later," she linked arms with Belén, "It was nice meeting you, Barry. And good to see you again Iris."

"Nice seeing you too," Iris waved.

"Bye," Belén waved back but added, "And you're not a flake," she told Barry who struggled not to laugh again, "At least...I don't think you are...are you?"

"Belén!" Nina scolded her.

Belén deeply sighed and resigned to her first bad impression, "I'm just going to leave now. Sorry," she gave an honest, apologetic smile as she left with Nina.

Iris chuckled and looked at Barry, "So, what you think of her? Fairly amusing, right? Nina's a bit more serious but she has her fun side too."

Barry wanted to come up with words that didn't insult Belén but he supposed his laugh was insulting enough, "She's...she's something."

"She's definitely fit to be a journalist," Iris continued, "Some of us - not me," she quickly clarified before she was thought rude, "used to call her motor-mouth Belén. Not me though!"

Barry couldn't help the third laugh that escaped his mouth, "Why? She's...okay, she talks a lot, but it's - it's cute."

Iris' eyebrows shot upwards in suspicion, "You think my friend is cute?"

"I said the way she _talks_ is cute," Barry quickly corrected but knowing Iris it wouldn't be easy to convince her otherwise.

"Barry…" Iris broke out one of her teasing smiles, even tilting her head for effect.

"Iris, don't," Barry stepped away in mild annoyance.

"What? I didn't say anything, you did!"

"I complemented!"

"But you said she was cute!"

"The way she talks!"

Iris pursed her lips together, refusing to leave it alone. Barry shook his head knowing things wouldn't be forgotten if he didn't move away.

"Barry, come back!" Iris whined as he started walking away, "I still need your help!" she rushed after him.

~ 0 ~

After Iris caught up and apologized for her teases, she and Barry got together over the refreshments table and gathered up some drinks. They were really just waiting for the head of Star Labs, Dr. Harrison Wells, to commence the event. In the meantime, Barry tried giving tips to Iris on what to write for her assignment.

"This is far too much for my understanding," Iris finally cut him off and drank from her glass, "Why, oh why, did I ever think this was a good idea?"

"I ask myself the same question," Barry remarked back with a clean smirk on his face.

Iris rolled her eyes as she took another sip of her drink. There was no use in arguing over something she completely agreed on. Instead, she focus on the nice event laid out before them. While she didn't understand much of the Accelerator, it apparently was a monumental step towards the future. At least that's what she got from the chattering she could over hear from other guests. However, one particular conversation began to carry over to her ears and immediately she was disgusted.

Not very far from her and Barry, stood Belén and a young man similar in age. He was just a bit taller than her, his shaggy black hair matching his dark eyes that were laid on Belén with such fury it almost scared Iris if she wasn't more angry with him. She hated him, absolutely hated him. Barry, who had been helping himself to another drink, noticed Iris staring with her angry look and wondered who could have earned one of those at an event she didn't know people in. He followed her gaze to Belén and the young man and of course saw what Iris was frowning at - the guy was almost shouting at Belén.

"Who's that?" he asked Iris after a minute of listening on the conversation.

"Eugh," Iris made a face, "Carlton, Belén's boyfriend."

" _T_ _hat's_ her boyfriend?" Barry almost gaped at the sight. The previously 'motor-mouth Belén' was silently listening to whatever shouts Carlton was giving her with no trace of that infectious smile she had on earlier.

Iris was glad he saw the waste and sighed, "Unfortunately, yes."

"But he's…"

"Rude? Verbally abusive? Controlling?" Iris plastered on a wide, fake smile, "Yeah, he is. Belén's been trying to break up with him for months now but she doesn't know how."

"Maybe she can try 'I'm breaking up with you'? I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that could do it."

"How do you do that when the guy has complete support from the girl's dad because he doesn't really know who his daughter has for a boyfriend? Not to mention he doesn't even let Belén speak much."

Barry didn't like seeing someone take advantage of someone else's kindness and especially when the victim looked like she couldn't even hurt a fly. That's the way Belén looked at the moment. It appeared she was trying to put in a word but every time her mouth opened up Carlton had something else to say and shut her right up.

Iris panicked when Barry took a couple steps towards the pair, "What are you doing!?" she latched her hand onto his arm.

"Iris, that's your friend over there," Barry gestured with his other hand, "You're not gonna let her suffer are you?"

"You think I haven't tried intervening?" Iris raised an eyebrow and let got of his arm, "Of course I have! But Belén says to let her handle it."

"Iris, she's being mauled over there," Barry insisted, "That's not like you."

"Ultimately it's her choice," Iris said as much as it pained her. Of course she wanted to rip Belén away from Carlton but even if she did it wouldn't make much use if Belén would return minutes later.

"Maybe she just needs persuasion," Barry refused to let that happen, "Who better than us, right?"

Iris did like the idea of someone else helping her against Belén's 'boyfriend' and who better than her best friend. They worked well together and she was sure she could make some serious progress on Belén.

"Fine," she huffed in the end but quickly pulled out a warning finger at him, "But if you get hurt I won't be held responsible."

That only made Barry more irritated, "He hits too?"

"Well, no, I just meant if you happen to get punched for being nosy then…"

"Right, I'm nosy," Barry gave her a look that told her to reevaluate her statement. Iris rolled her eyes and went towards Belén instead, prompting him to follow.

Belén was in the middle of inputting a response to something Carlton was saying when he shouted again and shut her right up, "You're an idiot! You really think you could hide it from your own father?"

Belén had flinched under his loud tone and desperately wished she could quiet him down. This was exactly why she hadn't mentioned she was coming to Star Labs to him. She knew when he learned he was coming to his job's rival laboratory he would go ballistic. But unfortunately, he had come out of his own accord to check out the competition and happened to have spotted her. Now he was threatening to take her home and tell her father as well, something she had planned to do on her own...but much later.

"I wasn't trying to hide it," she quietly clarified but it was enough to set Carlton up for another shout.

"Then you would have told me or him! You're not a great liar, Belén! Did you think I would be stupid enough to buy one of your pathetic excuses?" he harshly grabbed her by the arm, meaning to pull her towards the door when Belén pushed him off, growing irritated herself.

"I wasn't going to lie to you! I was simply going to wait a bit before I told your or my Dad. And I don't understand what's the big deal, frankly," she crossed her arms, "I'm only doing my job here. Besides, apparently this Accelerator thing is going to do good for us-"

Carlton loudly scoffed, "Don't be stupid, Belén! The only thing that's gonna do is cause trouble. Do yourself a favor and stop being an idiot."

Before Belén could reply, Iris and Barry reached their location and of course intervened on Belén's behalf.

"That's no way to talk to her," it was Barry who spoke first, though Iris was right beside him ready to go next.

Belén was surprised to find the pair of friends with her, especially since she hadn't seen them anymore over the course of the night.

Carlton glared at them, only growing further irritated, "This is between her and me so-"

Iris took her turn at him and cut him off, "You make it our business when we can hear your shouts from across the room. Besides, Belén's our friend and if someone is being rude to her we're definitely going to step up."

Carlton took a step towards them but Barry cut in and blocked any way towards Iris, and in the process Belén. His stern face warned Carlton there was no joke behind his words, "Back off. There's nothing that should ever make you talk to someone the way you are."

When Belén saw Carlton stepping towards Barry she knew she had to end things, "Please, just stop!" she cut in between Carlton and Barry, begging them with words and eyes, "I didn't want any problems!"

"Should've thought of that before you came here, Belén!" Carlton snapped and reached for her arm when Barry put out an arm to block her.

"Leave her alone," he warned Carlton, gently pulling Belén to Iris' spot behind. Before Carlton opened his mouth Barry added, "And leave if you don't want security called on."

Carlton shot a look at Belén who took it with silence, "You know this is far from over," he told her, "Your father is going to want to hear about this."

"Ooh…" was all Belén said as Carlton started leaving, clearly afraid of what would come next.

Iris rubbed Belén's arm comfortingly, "Hey, don't worry."

Belén sighed and ran a hand down her face, "I cannot believe this happened. I really thought I could just get through this and then tell my Dad on my own terms."

Barry turned around wearing a confused, yet surprised, look on his face, "Is your Dad really with this guy?" he knew he had no business asking something like that but with the small moment he met Belén he knew that was not the guy that would fit her best.

Belén sheepishly looked at him, feeling embarrassed he had to witness something like that, "My Dad doesn't really know how aggressive Carlton can get. And," knowing Iris would have something to say about that, Belén looked pointedly at her friend, "I would really appreciate if no one mentioned anything to him - Iris."

Iris rolled her eyes and looked to the side, "I mean, I'm a journalist - I'm supposed to shed the truth!"

"Yeah, on the public not my Dad," Belén gently pushed her then looked back to Barry, "And I'm really sorry you had to witness this, and get rude behavior in the process. Believe me, it won't happen again."

"Can you make that a promise so I at least know my new friend won't be in harm's way?"

"I'm sorry," Belén said quietly before sighing again. The last thing she wanted was to drag people in her own problems, especially people she literally just met.

"What are you apologizing for?" Iris scolded her and earned a look from Barry, "What?" she told him next.

"Clearly, Iris needs to work on her comforting skills," Barry announced and got a small smile out of Belén, something he quickly noticed.

While Iris mockingly glared at him, Belén started fixing herself up from Carlton's aggressive movements, "It's fine, guys, really. It's nothing new to me."

"Belén, why was he so threatening with your Dad?" Barry curiously asked, hoping to change the topic from the bad moment.

"Um, well," Belén twirled one of her blonde tips, "my dad sort of works for the big rival science lab of this…" she gestured to their current spot, "...place."

"Mercury Labs," Barry realized the problem and assumed her father was against his daughter stepping foot into the rivalry lab.

Belén nodded, "Mhm. I mentioned that I this assignment and he went ballistic. He said I couldn't come...so then I kind of snuck out. He's working later than usual so I thought I could get away with it for a while. I just didn't count that Carlton would be here - he works at Mercury Labs too."

"Well then I assume you must really want to write this piece if you went through all this trouble."

At the assumption of Barry's, Iris laughed and looked at Belén, "No she doesn't. She hates the science stuff, like me!"

Belén chewed on her bottom lip while trying to form a small smile, "Well...I mean, I don't understand a lot of stuff but I know this is supposed to help people. Plus, you have to admit the pretty lights are cool."

Iris made a noise and shook her head, "Typical. The one moment I have someone on my side and she sways."

Belén chuckled and sobered up rather fast, "Thank you," she told both kind best friends, "I'm really only used to thanking Iris," she added afterwards, "So extra thank you to you, Barry."

"Well that's Barry for you," Iris gave a light shrug, "Always trying to help people."

Before Barry could remark on his embarrassment thanks to Iris, the head of the event, Dr. Harrison Wells himself, began walking up the platform at the center of the room to address the crowd. Immediately there was some applause from the crowd as all attention turned to him.

"Thank you," Wells addressed the cheering, "My name is Harrison Wells. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here will change our understanding of physics. Will bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine, and trust me that future will be here faster than you think-"

Unfortunately, someone decided to pickpocket Iris' bag at that moment and snatched it right off her shoulder. Iris barely felt the blow before she realized her bag was gone, "Hey!" she cried, "My laptop! It's got my dissertation."

Without a second thought, Barry ran after the thief in hopes to get the bag back. While Iris was in distress, Belén was stunned at the quick action Barry had taken on.

"Wow, he really does like to help," she said before Iris took off in the direction of the thief and Barry, "Iris, stop!" she went after the woman.

But by the time the two caught up with Barry and the thief, the thief had run off only to be arrested by a police officer. Barry, in the meanwhile, had received a good punch across the face.

"Barry, are you okay?" Iris asked for the tenth time after the whole fiasco. The three stood not too far from where the teen thief was being pushed into a police car by an overexcited cop.

"Who is that?" Belén wondered as the blonde man happily chattered with a fellow companion over what she assumed was his arrest.

"And why is he so excited over catching a mugger?" Iris crossed her arms, scrunching her nose in dislike.

"He's a transfer from Keystone," Barry told the two women, "Started a few weeks ago. Eddie Thawne."

"Oh, _that's_ Detective Pretty Boy," Iris realized from the stories her father had told him not too long ago, "That's what my Dad calls him. Says he actually keeps score when it comes to arrests."

"He is pretty though," Belén blurted and flushed as she looked at the two beside her, "I mean, not that you guys aren't...or…" but she then thought that last 'or' made it seem like she was lying and of course she wanted to clarify, "And by the 'or' I simply meant - or thought - that maybe you guys don't go by 'pretty' and maybe…" she knew she was only rambling on and it wouldn't get better from there. With a big sigh, she made a motion with her hands she was going to stop, "I think it's time for me to go home before I say something more stupid."

"I'd rather have you say more stupid stuff than have to defend you from some guy," Iris gave her a side hug.

"I think Barry's right, you're not very good at comforting people," Belén made a face that made Barry laugh.

Iris wasn't very amused and simply huffed, "Go home, Belén."

"I will," Belén raised a hand in solemn promise, "I have to go finish writing this paper for Linda anyways."

"Linda Park?" Barry recalled the name from the several sports articles the woman wrote. "That's your boss?" the more he learned about Belén the more impressed he was of her.

Belén nodded, "Yup! Good ole, sometimes flaky, Linda. She got me into the internship years ago and she's set to be my mentor when I start on the job for real. Anyways, I really have to go. Thank you both, and it was nice meeting you, Barry."

"Likewise," Barry nodded and gave her a polite shake of hands. Belén smiled back and started off on her way home.

~ 0 ~

Arriving at home and seeing her father wasn't back yet was a big relief for Belén. She would have some time coming up with an excuse as to why she was at Star Labs. Though it wouldn't make much of a difference and her Dad would still be upset, Belén figured it was better if she came up with things to say.

"Rayan?" she called as she dropped her bag over the kitchen table, "Rayan? Are you back yet?" she called for her twin brother numerous times until she concluded he was not home either. She wasn't very surprised since he had told her earlier in the day he would be arriving later that day. Still, she'd had hope he would've came back so he could give her a final edit on her paper when she finished.

After grabbing her laptop from her room upstairs, Belén settled down at the kitchen table to write up her paper, using things she'd gotten from Nina before she left and her own thoughts. She just hoped Linda wouldn't be so picky with the final version.

~ 0 ~

Barry had arrived back to his lab in the precinct to continue with some more assignments he'd left behind. Upon arriving, he turned on his television to follow the particle accelerator's progress. He left the television to go to his wheeled-pinboard where all the information he had gathered anything he could from his mother's murder case. Every day or so he would revisit the information he had, hoping to find something he had missed.

But every day, it was the same - there was nothing new on the closed case.

~ 0 ~

Belén flinched when raging thunder crackled up in the sky. She got up from her chair in the kitchen and walked to the glass backdoor to peer outside. It was pouring rain yet she wasn't too concerned with that. Her eyes had settled on the 'pretty lights' of the Accelerator she could manage see. Curious to see just how beautiful the lights were in reality, Belén slid the glass door open and stepped out. She shivered under the cold water hitting her skin but that didn't stop her from walking further through the backyard. She only stopped to pick up one of her prized Azalea flowers that had fallen from her Azalea bushes. She couldn't risk her young nephew coming by and picking up one of the fallen poisonous flowers.

"Blasted rain," she muttered and glanced to her the Azalea's she planted long ago. She loved her flowers but specifically the Azalea for its hot pink appearance - her favorite color may or may not have been pink.

Belén placed the flower in her blouse's front pocket and came to a stop in front of the big tree at the center of the yard. She knew it was stupid, and childish, but she began climbing it.

"Oh, if Dad could see me right now," she made a face as she wondered how irritated her father would be upon seeing her drenched and up a tree simply for lights in the sky. She would be sure to get down before he returned, she promised herself.

~ 0 ~

Barry was still looking over his mother's case information on the board when he heard alarming news from the television.

 _'Wait, we are now being told to evacuate the facility. The storm may have caused a malfunction to the primary cooling system. Officials are now trying to shut down the particle accelerator. But so far have been unable to regain…'_

Barry looked back at the television only to witness the power being cut off. He went to go close the canopy as soon as he heard a loud, violent explosion from across the city - assuming it to be Star Labs. Though he tried to remain calm it went to hell the moment he saw all the chemical liquids around the room begin to rise from their containers...just like it had happened when he was a child only minutes before his mother was murdered. By staring at the liquids in almost awe, he missed the shock-wave from the Accelerator coming towards him. At the same time, lightning struck down on him. He was thrown across the room, hitting a shelf and coming to a drop on the floor.

That was the last thing he would be seeing, or remembering, for the next nine months.

~ 0 ~

Belén had missed the calls her father was leaving for her in both the house phone and her cellphone due to the fact she was sight seeing. She took out her flower from her pocket and tried re-assorting its crushed petals. She hated when the petals would get crumpled. She took great care of them for a reason yet mother nature seemed to be against her. However, at the loud explosion she snapped her gaze back up and was horrified to see the burst of energy. Even more horrified, and now terrified, she felt when she saw the shock-wave coming straight towards her.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-no!" she cried as she tried to beat the shock-wave and get down from the tree. It was, of course, impossible and so the only thing she did was scream when the shock-wave pushed her off the tree. Her back violently hit the grass but by that time she was had passed out. Her lonesome azalea had landed on her palm.

There was no one to see it make contact with the grass bits underneath between her opened fingers which then merged together on her skin.

~ 0 ~

Dr. Nina Clarke was overwhelmed with all the incoming patients coming into the ER thanks to the outcome of the Particle Accelerator. She was barely getting a breather when the doors flung open and two of her co-workers urgently pushed in a new patient over a gurney.

"Oh my God…" her eyes went wider when the patient's best friend came in seconds later, "Iris?" she rushed to keep the woman from entering the bloc where the other workers were bringing Barry in.

Iris was in tears and almost incoherent but she still managed to explain a little to Nina, "Lightning! Explosion and Barry, he, he was...lightning!"

Nina blinked and put herself in front of Iris, "Okay, I'll go in and I promise we'll do our best. Stay with your dad and I'll be back, okay?"

Iris tried controlling her radical breathing and sobs as best she could but it was almost impossible. She had been terrified to receive the call from the CCPD telling her of Barry's accident. Her father had been taking care of a case and was offline for a bit so the dilemma fell on her. She thought perhaps things would get better knowing that Belén's good friend was helping out in Barry's case. Of course her tremors skyrocketed all over again when she saw none other than Belén being hurried off into the bloc as well. Her father came running afterwards, also hysterical.

Iris dropped dropped her hands from her face and rushed towards the man, "Mr. Palayta? What's going on!?"

"Iris," Belén's father was somewhat relieved to see a familiar face, "Belén...she, she was, I don't know what she was doing but she was injured from this Accelerator. Now she's off in there," he motioned to the closed doors of the bloc, "in danger of paralysis, head trauma, coma - I don't know!"

Iris' lip quivered as she turned away from Belén's father. In the same night her best friend and her college friend had been harmed and pushed to the same borderline of life and death.

~ 0 ~

 **3 Months after the Particle Accelerator explosion.**

In a liquor store, a woman in purple leather, with a mask covering half her face, was in the middle of threatening a cashier. "Hand over the money unless you wanna die in a really nasty way."

The poor cashier shook as he reached for the register. At the same time however, the door of the liquor store was flung open, off its hinges actually.

"What the!?" the woman in purple turned to the threshold with both palms extended.

A young man walked in with a mask over his face. He raised his hands and flicked his fingers to the sides, knocking down the security cameras from the ceiling. The woman in purple shot forwards a purple mass from her palms but the man deflected the masses to the sides with another flick of his hands.

"Come now, sister, is that the way to greet me?"

The woman in purple was in horror to see after the young man threw the mask off his face. "Y-you're...you're supposed to be _dead_..."

The young man smirked. "And you're not supposed to be a criminal but here we are...Plasticine?"


	2. The Awakening

**Author's Note:** Just a note, the name Belén is pronounced as Beh-len with an extra emphasis on the second syllable (hence the accent over the 'e'). So it's Beh- _lén._ (And not like the name Helen).

* * *

 **2 Weeks after the Particle Accelerator explosion.**

Iris had a chair propped up beside Barry's bed inside the hospital room. As Barry slept through his coma, Iris could only stare at him, hoping in the next minute he would wake up. Her father had stepped out for a minute to talk to the doctor about Barry's condition, leaving Iris to look over him alone for a while.

After there was a soft knock on the door, Iris tore her gaze from Barry to look over. Belén stood there, with a neckbrace, dressed in a hospital gown with a white robe over it. She felt awful, but when she learned of what could've been like with other patients - among those Barry - Belén was super grateful of her recovery. Coming in with an injured neck and back was nothing to joke over. The fact she had been near more dangerous conditions scared her to the bone. Thankfully, the doctors told her she would be fine eventually, but she would have to take it easy for a while. There was just a funny taste on her tongue she couldn't get rid of no matter what she drank or ate. She wondered if it was because of all the medication she was on at the moment.

"Hey," Belén greeted quietly, slowly coming in.

Iris was glad to see her friend out of her room and walking about. That was the only thing helping her at the moment, that not everyone was gone. She rose to her feet to greet Belén but the ombre-haired woman motioned with a hand for Iris to sit back down.

"You look awful," Belén blurted and sighed at herself, "And by that I only mean it looks like you haven't slept in a week."

"Your assumption would be right," Iris leaned back on her chair. Wearily, she rubbed her temple and glanced at Barry, "I keep thinking if I close my eyes for even just a minute I could miss him waking up."

Belén's dark eyes flickered to the motionless Barry beside her, "I'm sorry," she said, both to him and Iris.

By the time she had come around she was in a hospital room with her father at her side. He had explained and reminded her of what had happened with the accelerator. Thanks to him, she learned of many tragedies that had struck Central City in less than a minute and of the future tragedies that would occur if doctors couldn't come through for patients. Among those, she learned of what happened to Barry in his lab. Though she wanted to go see how he and Iris were doing, she couldn't really get up until a day ago.

"Did they give you any news?" Belén asked Iris after a moment of silence.

"No," Iris plopped down on her chair, "It's a coma, meaning there's no precise moment of waking up. There's no knowing _if_ he's going to wake up."

"Hey," Belén cut her off, "He's going to wake up. Sooner or later, he's going to open his eyes and he's going to be up and about."

A small smile spread across Iris' face, unable to restrain her hope after hearing Belén. She turned her gaze back to Barry and set herself to wait once more for Barry to open his eyes.

~ 0 ~

 **2 months after the explosion.**

Belén walked down the upstairs hallway of her house, dressed in all black, and came to a stop at an open room. Her eyes couldn't help scan the entire room without tearing up again. The unmade bed was just another reminder of how sudden everything had been.

She closed her eyes just as the first tears rolled down her face. Someone else came up behind Belén and promptly closed the door to her twin brother's bedroom. Belén sniffled as her father, David Palayta, turned her to him.

"I want him back," she said with a strained voice, pursing her lips together to withold a sob.

David quickly took her into a hug, "So do I, sweetheart, but..." he gave a shake of his head, and it was enough to tear down through Belén's barrier. She burst into sobs.

Belén's slightly older twin brother, Rayan, had gone missing a month ago with no clues as to where he could have gone. The only remains was his car that had been left in the middle of a street after an apparent 'accident' with another car. Everything belonging to Rayan was still in the car, except for Rayan himself. His family, though split up, was doing everything they could to find Rayan Palayta. However, there was another tragedy that struck the family and deferred from all attention on the case.

"C'mon, Maritza is waiting for us at her place," Belén's father informed as he ended the hug and put them into a walk for the stairs.

Belén cleared her face of tears and took a breath in, "I can't. I told Iris I would come with her to Star Labs and see Barry."

"Today?" David raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "Belén, you know I already don't like you visiting that place-"

"I do it for Iris-"

"I don't care who you do it for. That place is the reason for all of these tragedies that happened in the city," David raised his voice, "And I do feel for the Wests but that does not change the fact that Star Labs is a horrible place with horrible people."

Belén was not in the mood to argue, she didn't feel like she had the energy to fight. "They're not awful, Dad. I've met them, and I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that they are good people. I will go to Maritza's after I visit Star Labs."

Her father gave a disapproving sigh, though Belén knew it was more for the fact she was going to the rival Labs of his precious job. But she told him she would accompany Iris to Star Labs every day after Joe West had relinquished Barry for Dr. Wells to take the young man to the lab in order to receive better, proper attention. Iris needed support from everyone around her, and besides, Belén felt like she owed Barry that much as well. Without knowing her well, he had stood up for her against her boyfriend. That made him a friend and friends are always with each other no matter what.

"Tell Maritza I'll come by later," Belén gave her dad a kiss on the cheek and hurried off to pick up Iris at her house.

~ 0 ~

"I'm sorry I didn't go to the funeral," Iris was saying as the two women entered the now-shut-down Star Labs.

Belén motioned with a hand it was fine, "Maritza knows your family is in pretty bad shape too, don't worry."

"Still, I can come after this," Iris insisted. Besides the fact that Belén had shown solidarity for Barry and her family, Iris still felt terrible for Belén's older sister, Maritza, losing her husband due to the Particle Accelerator. "It must be hard losing a husband like that. I want to show my support."

Belén half-smiled, "She'll be very thankful for it. I know so."

The two women walked through the solitary corridors of the building until they came up to the cortex room where Barry was being kept in. With him were the only two remaining Star Lab employees, Cisco Ramon and Dr. Caitlin Snow.

"Afternoon," Belén politely greeted when she and Iris came into the room. The two employees looked up from their computers with smiles and replied back to the ombre-haired woman.

"Hey, Belén," Caitlin did a small wave.

"Hey, Bells!" Cisco also waved at the woman, much more excited to see her and Iris than Caitlin. It'd been pretty quiet since the day of the explosion and having two pretty girls visit a patient was not bad for entertainment.

Iris went straight for where Barry was, "How is he?" she looked back at the two employees with hopeful eyes.

Caitlin sighed, by now used to giving bad news to people, "Same as always, I'm afraid."

Belén followed to where Iris went and looked at Barry, "He's going to wake up," she said told Iris, sounding so sure Iris could almost believe it.

"How do you know?" Caitlin asked from her spot.

"Because-" Belén looked back at the brunette woman, "-he's not dead nor missing. He's got all the things he needs to wake up. The world left him here for a reason, it's just he likes sleeping a lot…"

Iris half-smiled after hearing Belén , "He was always oversleeping in the mornings."

"See?" Belén looked at her with a smile, "Right now he's just breaking his record for oversleeping."

"I would appreciate it if he stopped trying to break it, then," Iris sighed, looking up from her best friend. She left her purse on a chair and pulled her phone out, "I need to call my dad, let him know how Barry's doing."

"Go ahead," Belén motioned for her to walk out for privacy, "I can keep watch on him," Iris gave a grateful smile and left the room to call her father.

"Hey, Bells," Cisco called seconds later, "I was talking to Dr. Wells and he said there was no problem if you wanted to interview us for your article."

Belén felt a little joy return to her for a minute. She had asked them a week ago if she could do interviews on the Star Labs employees for their perspective of the explosion's aftermath. She thought it was a good idea to show the city that Star Labs was not that horrendous place full of evil as they now liked to see the place. But barely seeing Dr. Wells was delaying the article. Thankfully, Cisco had graciously offered to ask him himself.

"Thank you, Cisco," Belén turned to them, genuinely grateful. At least one thing had gone good in such awful moments.

At that moment, Belén felt her cellphone vibrate in her jean's pocket and pulling it out she found it was Carlton. With the face she was making, she alerted Cisco and Caitlin of just who it was. While knowing them only for a month and a half, the three had gotten a little closer than with Iris for some reason. It could be, or probably was, that Iris came directly for Barry, always at his side and talking to him. Belén, coming for support, often felt like she was intruding on Iris' talks with Barry and commonly excused herself to find Cisco and Caitlin.

"Belén," Caitlin tilted her head, wearing that motherly disapproving look Belén had come to recognize in only so little time, "when are you going to break it up?"

"I'm looking for the best moment, I promise," Belén said, and she meant it. She couldn't take Carlton's shouts anymore, and much less his rude behavior. She just didn't want their break up to turn into such a fuss.

"Best moment could be _now_ ," Cisco muttered under his breath, earning a glare from Caitlin.

Belén sighed before taking the call, "Hello? What's-"

"Where the hell are you?" Carlton's sharp demand cut her off instantaneously.

"I'm with Iris at Star Labs-"

"Why are you there and not at Maritza's husband's funeral? Did you really leave your sister hanging for some guy you barely even know?"

Belén rolled her eyes, "I'm coming later with Iris, there's no problem."

"No, there's a _big_ problem because you're supposed to be here with your _family_. I'm here and I look like a damn idiot trying to explain to others why you aren't here!"

Belén was seriously in no mood to hear Carlton's shouts. She surprised herself with her next words, "I will be there when I get there but in the meantime leave me the hell alone," she promptly hung up afterwards.

Cisco was the first one to clap and actually made Belén chuckle in embarrassment, "You go girl! Yeah!"

"Cisco," Belén playfully rolled her eyes. She knew she would be paying for that one later but in the meantime she just wanted to help out here.

"Hey," Iris returned looking somewhat better than before.

Belén knew the reason why and couldn't help tease, "So, talking to Eddie Thawne gives you the smileys now?"

Iris became flustered as she walked past Belén, going back to Barry, "Shut up, Belén. I only talked for five minutes with him. My dad's on a case so he answered."

"Oooo," Belén teased like a school girl, "you two are so going to end up together, mark my words."

"I don't know about that," Iris waved her off, wishing they could stop discussing the topic in front of Cisco and Caitlin. She didn't feel quite comfortable just yet with them but apparently Belén did.

"Mark my words," Belén nudged her and got Iris to chuckle.

~ 0 ~

As promised, Iris accompanied Belén to her older sister's husband's funeral after spending time with Barry. Iris was used to the gloomy atmosphere around her by this time so entering Maritza's home full of mourning people was nothing new to her mood. Due to the explosion of the particle accelerator, Maritza's husband had landed in a critical state after being caught up in the shockwave while driving and only lasted a month in the hospital before passing away. Needless to say, Maritza was both despondent and furious with the situation. Still, at the moment, she could only release tears for relief.

"Maritza," Belén quietly went up to her sister with Iris beside her.

The older brunette turned to face the two women, "Belén, where have you been?"

"Totally my fault," Iris raised a hand to signal her guilt, "She accompanied me to see my best friend."

Maritza was well aware of Barry Allen's condition, both from Belén and the news. She gave a small nod of understanding, "Thank you for coming, Iris. I know you're not having it so easy either."

"We're here together, to support each other," Iris said and gave her a hug.

"Auntie Belén," called a four year old boy who made his way over to Belén. The boy, Maritza's only son, stopped in front of Belén and hugged her waist.

Belén half-smiled and hugged him back. "Hey there, Axel," she ruffled his dark brown hair. The boy giggled and rushed off. "How is he?" she asked Maritza.

Maritza smiles through teary eyes, "He doesn't understand sometimes. He asks when his dad is coming home, but…" she started sniffling again until getting to the brink of sobs.

"Mommy," Axel raised his head at the sound of his mother nearly crying. He came rushing back to his mother's side.

"Hey, why don't we go get yourself cleaned up a bit?" Iris quickly suggested before the boy copied Maritza's tears. With Maritza's nod, Iris led her away from Belén and Axel.

"Mommy?" Axel leaned in the direction Iris and Maritza were heading off to.

"C'mon Axel," Belén turned away with him, putting on a smile for him, "Let's go find your grandparents, yeah?"

"Okay," Axel glumly gave a nod of his head. Belén took his hand and led him further down the room to find his grandparents.

~ 0 ~

 **4 Months After the explosion.**

"Hey, I'm sorry for being late! Class went a little later that I thought 'maybe it's just best to walk out' but then my professor-" Belén apologized frantically when she entered the cortex room.

Iris looked up from Barry with a small smile, "Belén," she cut off the woman before she ran out of air from her long ramble, "it's okay. You don't have to come everyday."

"I already told you I would, so let's stop reminding me nonsense," Belén waved a hand off and took a deep breath to gather herself up. She pulled her jacket off and placed it over a nearby chair along with her bag. Afterwards she noticed the different face Iris wore, one she only really saw when Iris spoke to a certain someone, "Iris, what are you thinking of?"

Iris almost blushed of being caught, "Nothing…" Belén narrowed her eyes, putting on her thinking face which Iris knew wouldn't go away unless she spilled, "Okay, well, Eddie called. He, um...he asked if I wanted to get some lunch or something…"

"And you said yes right?" Belén nearly didn't let Iris finish. She rushed up to Iris and gently shook the woman, "Iris West, tell me you said yes?" Iris had that apologetic smile that told Belén the opposite, "Iris!"

"I can't leave Barry," Iris gestured to her comatose best friend, "Besides my dad, I'm all he has right now. I don't want to leave him for some guy."

"Some guy that clearly has an interest in you and one that you so clearly like back," Belén left Iris to grab the woman's belongings.

Iris followed the movement with confusion, "What are you doing?"

"It's barely two thirty, so there's still time for you two to have lunch," Belén returned holding out Iris' purse and blazer.

"What?" Iris blinked, unable to react even as Belén proceeded to dig for Iris' phone in her purse.

"Call him, tell him you most certainly can do lunch today," Belén waved Iris' phone to her face. "Oh, maybe even do a little walk around the park? I always thought that was kind of romantic like in the movies-"

"But Barry-" Iris tried cutting in again but Belén wouldn't let Iris get out of this one.

"I can stay here," she volunteered happily, "I have nothing to do today besides write an article and do some biology homework. And, it's all on the computer."

"Belén," Iris sighed, unsure of what to do then. She glanced back at Barry, wishing he could just wake up already and let this entire nightmare be over. Unfortunately, Barry remained as he had for the past four months: sleeping.

"It'll be fine," assured Belén, following Iris' gaze, "He won't know a thing. At the very least he'll know someone annoying was talking for hours on a stupid article."

Iris smiled at that. "Well...he did say the way you talked fast was cute. Maybe he really won't mind," she had said without thinking.

Belén looked at her, mildly surprised, "He said that?"

Realizing her error, Iris shut her eyes, biting her lip, "Don't tell him I said that. It was just a comment."

Belén chuckled, momentarily blushing. "My lips are sealed. But that's even better then. He won't mind listening to me while you go and have your lunch date. So go!"

Iris blushed as she started heading for the doors, "I'll call you later, then!"

Belén waved, "And I'll be waiting for it!"

After a couple minutes, Belén looked for her things and pulled out her laptop from her bag, "Well, Barry, get ready," she warned as she plopped down on Iris' chair, "You're about to hear a lot of talking right now," she opened her laptop and set to work on her newest article assignment courtesy of Linda Park.

~ 0 ~

Belén felt quite accomplished as she got out of her car - well, her brother's car. She had managed to finish her entire article during her stay in Star Labs. Now there was only the part of handing it over to Linda to read over for a final edit. Of course, Belén's good mood drained enough to erase that accomplished feeling when she saw her boyfriend, Carlton, coming out of her house.

"Oh no," Belén closed her eyes as she remembered she had had her _own_ date today which she'd completely forgotten. To begin with, she really didn't want to go but it hadn't meant she was willing to ditch him.

As soon as Carlton saw Belén coming up to the house he turned fierce to the point of near shouts again, "Do you want to explain where the hell you were today!?"

Belén cleared her throat awkwardly and replied, "I was doing some work-"

"You weren't at CC Pictures so don't even try using that excuse on me," snapped Carlton.

Belén nodded, her fingers gripping the strap of her bag over her arm, "I was at Star Labs looking after Barry while Iris was out."

The explanation infuriated Carlton more, "So you ditched me for a vegetable on a-"

"HEY!" Belén furiously cut him off, not about to let him insult someone who could not defend their self at the moment, "You are not going to insult one of my friends right now, do you hear me? This is _our_ problem and-"

"Shut up!" Carlton exclaimed. "We're not seriously going to have an argument over a guy that hasn't even opened his eyes in _months_?"

"You're the one that keeps insulting him!"

"Because lately, all you ever do is spend time at your job or with him and those other leftover Star Labs employees! I can't believe it," Carlton laughed to himself, "my girlfriend prefers the company of a vegetable-"

Belén surprised herself when her hand flew to slap him across the face. She blinked rapidly but her mouth opened up and words came out before she realized. "Don't you talk about Barry that way – nor any of my friends for that matter! You are a horrible person! And you know what? You and I are done. I'm breaking up with you, Carlton."

It took a moment for the declaration to process in Carlton's head and in that moment Belén pushed past him and headed for her house. Belén was just making her way up the front porch steps when he turned to her and called out, "You can't break up with me, Belén! Especially over the vegetable and the leftovers!"

"But I am," Belén smirked. "You always belittle me and I've always let it slide…but no more. You insulted someone in a _coma_ , Carlton! Who does that?"

"Your father's not going to be happy-"

"But I'll be and that's what matters," Belén cut him right off, a smile spreading across her face, "I expect some type of status on Facebook on your part saying how bad of a girlfriend I was. I look forward to reading it...right before I unfriend you."

"Belén!" Carlton screamed and made Belén flinch, "You're going to pay for this. I swear to God you are going to pay for this."

While the threat did make Belén shift uncomfortably she didn't show it in her tone, "I don't give a damn. Goodbye," she waved with her fingers and continued her way home.

And what do you know, upon entering the house she felt a big weight lift off her shoulders.

~ 0 ~

 **6 Months after the explosion.**

"But did you at least start it already?" Cisco asked Belén as the two made way into the cortex room, both holding coffee cups in hands, "I'm telling you the show is worth it! It gets so good!"

Belén chuckled as she listened Cisco ramble on about his current favorite show, The Walking Dead. He had a way of over-talking as well, though she mostly never understood much of it considering it was always sciency and technology.

"Bells, you have to watch it!" Cisco insisted, stopping by the computers while Belén went straight for Barry.

"Oh Cisco, maybe tonight," she gave a light shrug and looked down at Barry, "...do you think he liked the show?" she found herself asking.

"Barry?" Cisco repeated for confirmation.

"Mhm," Belén let a small laugh out, "It's just, it's barely occurred to me that while I've been looking after him for months I don't really know him."

"Well, if he doesn't like the Walking Dead then this friendship ends here and now," Cisco made a face that had Belén laughing again. He grinned and took a sip of his coffee before gathering courage for something else, "And you know what else, Bells?"

"Hm?"

"I don't know much about you either," he admitted, "You think we can grab some coffee some time?"

"Um, Cisco…" Belén motioned motioned to their current coffee cups in their hands.

"Oh," Cisco blinked and coughed out of embarrassment, "What I meant was if you-" he gestured to her, "-wanted to...get something to eat…"

The question left Belén a little startled as it was something she truly had not seen coming. It was true that she had grown a bit closer to Cisco than Caitlin, with Cisco going as far as giving her a nickname - Bells - to solidify their friendship. Belén wasn't sure if she could see anything past that, especially given the fact she was still trying to get over her recent relationship with Carlton. With a light clear of her throat she glanced back at Barry, "I...,um…"

"Not right now," Cisco clarified, knowing she had been left in care of Barry until Iris finished her shift at Jitters, "Maybe later tonight - or tomorrow, or…"

Belén slowly returned her gaze back to him, now wearing a small smile, "Cisco, I haven't really...um...been on a date since...you know…"

"Since you broke up with Carlton, I know," Cisco nodded.

"I don't really know…" Belén slowly continued, now fiddling with her coffee cup. "The idea...it...it scares me a little, honestly..."

"It's weird, I get it," Cisco flushed and laughed, something Belén easily saw, "Probably shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, no," Belén came back to him, smiling lightly, "Let's do it," she said, a bit nervous. "One night...maybe it can help..."

Cisco's eyes widened with delight, "Really?"

Belén nodded, "Yeah. And just so you know, I don't like Chinese food."

"Got it," Cisco promised her and proceeded to make an excited fist pump in the air, something that had Belén laughing for a good five minutes.

~ 0 ~

 **8 Months after the explosion.**

The metahuman Plasticine burst open the doors of a jewelry shop by shooting massive purple blobs that stuck on the pieces of doors now on the floor. Her black boots' heels clicked as she strode up to the cashier. With her masked face, she spoke to the man with a modulated voice. "Money, now."

The cashier, startled, tried to sway the woman from her initial order, "U-uh, perhaps you want to...um...think…"

The woman rolled her eyes, "You're not listening - give me the money in the cash register and count yourself lucky I'm not here for the diamond necklaces."

"But...but…" the cashier subtly tried reaching for the alarm button under the display tables.

Knowing what he was up to, the woman threw a hand in the air and released some purple spheres that went straight for a security camera above them. The cashier flinched as the camera was completely covered in the mass. However, it didn't stop there. Its mass spread to the other cameras set up in the room until they were all buried under the mass.

Plasticine remained in her spot and merely cast glances around to the now scared customers and employees, "Don't make me ask again - give me the money," she held a hand towards the cashier, "or the next thing that gets crushed will be you."

And seeing there was no other way to escape death, the cashier quickly dug into the register's cash.

~ 0 ~

 **9 months after the explosion.**

"Caitlin, are you sure this will help?" Belén closed her laptop with a deep sigh as, once again, she failed to understand another biology chapter.

Caitlin, who sat at the cortex desk, looked up for a minute to nod, "Yes. The website guarantees you will learn more than your actual professors have been able to."

Belén rose from her chair and turned to pick up her bag from the floor and placed her laptop inside, "Well, I hope so. I have to pass this biology class if I want to graduate. It's my last class and, of course, I barely get it."

"It's not that hard," Caitlin remarked but earned a loud scoff in response.

"Says the perfect bio-engineerist," Belén glanced over her shoulder, "This class was born for Dr. Caitlin Snow. Belén Palayta was born to write…and talk...and dance..."

If Caitlin hadn't lost what she had from the accelerator, she would have smiled at that. Instead, her eyes returned to the computer screens in front of her, "You'll do fine, Bells."

"I sure hope so," Belén grabbed her bag and headed for the doors, "I have to do this stupid DNA model which I haven't even started yet."

"Gonna get a start on it already, then?" Caitlin turned her chair to face Belén as she passed by.

Belén came to a stop beside the computers and shook her head, "I'm gonna go to the CCPD first," her voice visibly grew quieter as she explained, "I have to see how the case is going."

Caitlin gave a nod, "Then we'll see you tomorrow?"

Belén sighed, "Guess so. Thanks for staying with Barry, though. I'll make it up tomorrow."

Caitlin made a motion it was fine. Since Iris was covering a shift for her friend at Jitters, Belén was staying with Barry for the meanwhile but Belén had not accounted for the last minute lessons her professors were leaving her. As Belén was leaving, Cisco was coming in with a small bag of foam.

"Bells, I found this and thought you might want it for that project you told me earlier about," he held the bag for her to see.

Belén peered inside to see the small foam bits and smiled, "Thank you Cisco. And when they promptly burn because I messed up I'll be sure to send you a picture of it."

"That's what I'm counting on," Cisco grinned and headed to take a seat beside Caitlin.

Belén rolled her eyes, "You're rude!"

"What? It'll make a good Instagram picture and you know it."

Belén made a face and instead bid her goodbyes, "I'll see you guys later," and she walked out.

~ 0 ~

It had only been an hour since Belén left Star Labs and since then all Caitlin and Cisco had done was argue. Currently, Caitlin was looking over a journal Belén seemingly forgot to take with her while Cisco played music over the speakers, and loud too.

With a groan, Caitlin looked up from the page, "Do you have to play that out-loud? I'm trying to help Belén here."

Cisco ignored her look of doom, "He likes this song," he nodded to Barry.

Caitlin rolled her eyes and closed the journal in her hands, "How could you possibly know that?"

"Iris showed me his Facebook page. I mean, he can hear everything, right?"

"If that were true I think he would have woken up just to tell Belén to be quiet."

"Hey!" Cisco pointed at her, looking offended on behalf of Belén, "You leave Bells out of this."

Caitlin playfully rolled her eyes and made way for the computers. "Not even because she dumped you you'll stop defending her?" she asked with a teasing smile across her lips.

Cisco shook her head. "Ha, ha, you know she didn't dump me. We both mutually agreed it wasn't going-" but he was interrupted by a loud, deep gasp.

Barry had woken up with a violent jerk upright.

"Oh, my God!" Cisco jumped back while Caitlin ran up to the now conscious patient. Cisco reached for the intercom. on the desk to call for their boss.

"Where am I?" Barry was almost spazzling as he regained full consciousness over his surroundings.

"Doctor Wells, get down to the cortex, like right now," Cisco left the message over the intercom then rushed to help Caitlin.

She was holding a small flashlight over Barry's eyes, "Over 110. Pulse 120. Pupils equally reactive to light. Look at me," since Barry was trying get out of bed she forced him still by grabbing his head, "Look at me."

Cisco gently pushed Caitlin off, knowing she was probably scaring Barry more than he already was, "Hey hey. Oh, oh, relax. Everything's ok, man. You're at Star Labs."

The last of what Cisco said registered in Barry's head, "Star Labs?" he looked over at Cisco, "Who are you?"

"I'm Cisco Ramon. She's Caitlin -" he knew that was wrong, according to Caitlin and started over again, "Doctor Snow."

And promptly, Caitlin showed up holding a small container, "I need you to urinate in this."

Cisco, once again, pushed Caitlin away, "Not this second!"

Barry was beginning to calm and finally able to get off the bed, "What, what is happening? What is going on?'

"You were struck by lightning, dude," Cisco reminded, the hint of fascination unable to be hidden.

Barry had turned to a mirror nearby and gaped at his appearance, "Wh - lightning gave me abs?"

Caitlin made a face, sounding confused herself despite having studied his case over the months, "Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration."

Cisco led Barry to a chair and sat him down, "Come here, have a seat. You were in a coma."

"For how long?" Barry truly tried taking it in and hoped to remember what happened. For the moment, all he remembered was the Particle Accelerator event he attended with Iris.

Dr. Wells had entered the room, or wheeled in, and answered Barry's question, "Nine months. Welcome back, Mister Allen. We have a lot to discuss."

Barry roughly swallowed as he desperately tried recalling all his memories. It was turning out to be a much more difficult task. Even as Wells talked him through it, as well as showing the now-damaged particle accelerator to him, Barry was still hesitant to believe it was all true.

"It's hard to believe I'm here. I've always wanted to meet you face to face," he told Wells who took it with amusement.

"Yeah? Well, you certainly went to great length to do it. Star Labs has not been operational since FEMA categorized us as a class 4 hazardous location. Many more were injured. Myself amongst them."

Barry blinked from hearing such a disaster and even glanced at Caitlin and Cisco to see if it was all true. "Geez. What happened?"

"Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online, exactly as planned," Wells began, "For forty-five minutes I had achieved my life's dream and then, then there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped, energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky, and that, in turn, seeded a storm-cloud…"

"That created a lightning bolt that struck me," Barry realized quick.

"That's right," Wells nodded, "I was recovering myself, when I heard about you. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time you were going into cardiac arrest, which was, actually a misdiagnosis, because you see, you weren't flat-lining, Barry, your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG to register it," Barry's mouth opened in gape, "Now, I'm not the most popular person in town these days but, Detective West and his daughter gave me permission to bring you here, where we were able to stabilize you."

Barry soon remembered his best friend, "Iris?"

"Iris, yes. She came to see you quite often."

"She talks a lot," Caitlin commented, "but no where near as Belén does."

"But they're both hot," Cisco added like it was a grand detail that no one should overlook.

Barry started for the exit, "I need to go."

Caitlin reached out to stop him, "No, you can't!"

"No, no, no, Caitlin's right," Wells quickly said, "Now that you're awake; we need to do more tests. You're still going through changes, there's so much that we don't know."

Barry turned to them, "I'm fine, really. I feel normal. Thank you for saving my life," and he rushed off.

"Really?" Caitlin, exasperated, called out. There was still so much to do and he was just gonna leave?

Suddenly, Barry poked his head into the room. "Can I keep the sweatshirt?" he gestured to his Star Labs sweatshirt Cisco had handed to him earlier.

Wells sighed, also irritated but displayed more patience than Caitlin, "Yeah, keep the sweatshirt."

With a grin, Barry thanked them and hurried off.

~ 0 ~

Iris was serving a customer coffee when Barry came rushing into Jitters. He nearly bumped into some people walking out because of his hastiness but he didn't quite care. Apparently, it had been 9 months since his family had seen him, and he had seen them, so he figured it was okay to bump into people for the moment. Iris gasped when she saw him, nearly dropping coffee all over her customer. She apologized but left the coffee pot on the table to run and greet Barry in a tight bear hug.

"Oh my God! You're awake!" she refused to let go for a minute or two as she decided whether the situation felt real enough told believe, "Why didn't Star Labs call us?"

"I just woke up," Barry chuckled as he finally got Iris to look let go.

Iris quickly took him by the arm as if he were going to fall any moment, "Should you even be on your feet?" she frantically questioned him.

Barry laughed again at her over-concern, "Iris, I'm okay," he assured her, but the fact didn't make Iris feel better.

"I watched you _die_ , Barry," she said sadly, "You kept dying and your heart kept stopping."

Barry recalled what Wells had told him but preferred to keep it to himself. There was no point in bringing up stuff that wouldn't matter anymore. Instead, he patted his hand over his heart, "Still beating," he smiled.

As if to confirm for herself, Iris leaned to hear and frowned at the results, "It's beating really _fast_ …"

Suddenly, two waitresses behind them crashed into each other and broke their plates and glasses. Barry blinked as everything went _slow_ as if he were in one of those action movies.

Iris, who saw everything normally, turned to her co-workers, "Are you okay, Tracy?"

"Yeah, I got it," Tracy waved a hand as she and the other employee started picking up the mess.

Barry was still trying to get over what had just happened to him when Iris returned to their conversation, "My dad is gonna be so happy to see you. Let me get my stuff, ok? I'll be right back."

Barry gave a small nod and waited for Iris to pick up her things. Meanwhile, he replayed the scene that had happened before him. Had he dreamed it all? It could possibly have been a side effect of the coma - illusions. That had to be it, right?

~ 0 ~

Belén was frantic as she stood in front of Captain Singh's desk, almost to tears as she listened to the man close down her brother's case. It was bad enough to know the case was being closed, but even more when Singh informed her he already had this talk with her parents and that he had expected for them, or one of them since her parents were divorced and her mother lived in the next city, to tell her themselves.

"You can't do this!" Belén's voice shook with a threatening sob. "He's not-"

"He _is_ and I'm very sorry," Singh sighed, knowing his apology meant nothing. It never did when families were given the unfortunate news their loved one(s) were dead.

Belén slammed a hand on the desk, teeth gritted together as she continued arguing. "He's not dead! I know he's not! He is out there and he needs our help!"

"Miss Palayta, you have to understand that due to the Particle Accelerator's activation, there were many disappearances that were left inconclusive. What you say may possibly be true, but...the chances of it are not as high as one would hope."

"And the chances will get lower if you stop helping!" Belén exclaimed, balling her fists.

"This is the not the first case we've closed to lack of evidence, but rest assure if anything comes up that could help...we will re-open it."

Singh's words did nothing to comfort her. With a terrible glare on the man, she stormed out of the room.

~ 0 ~

While there was chaos being unleashed inside Singh's office, not too far away was Barry and Iris, Barry receiving the embarrassment of a lifetime as all the officers greeted him from his long absence.

"Oh, you scared the hell out of us, kid," Iris' father, and Barry's adoptive father, Joe, was telling him.

A policeman beside him added, " Yeah, that was quite the nap you take there, baby-face. And you still look twelve."

Barry rolled his eyes at the comment while Iris chuckled. Joe put a hand over Barry's shoulder, "You look okay. Are you really?"

"Yeah," Barry assured, beginning to grow tired of the same question.

A policewoman came rushing towards the group, "Detective West, we've got a 5-50 in progress at Gold City Bank. Two dead. Storm's really picking up on the south side."

"Grab your rain gear," Joe told the other officers, "I'm sorry, Barry, I gotta run."

"Do you need my help?" Barry quickly asked.

"No, you take it easy," Joe pointed him, warning the young man to stay put, "There'll be plenty for you to do once you've settled in. Let's go partner," he looked over to his new partner, Eddie Thawne.

"Hey, Allen," he greeted Barry, "Glad to see you."

"Thanks, Eddie," Barry politely said back.

Eddie then looked at Iris, "Hey, Iris."

Iris sucked a small breath and put on her best act, "Detective, you should go, my dad doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Eddie nodded and told Barry, "Glad you're back," before following after Joe.

Iris sighed when Barry saw the small shrine memorial for Joe's old partner, "The night of the explosion, Clyde Mardon shot and killed Chyre. Mardon and his brother died trying to escape their plane crash."

"You're a lousy police department!" Belén's shout rang throughout the room as she stormed out of Singh's office. She knew it was childish to shout but her emotions were all over the place right now.

Iris quickly glanced to see her friend rushing to leave the place. "Bells!"

Belén looked up and gasped at the sight of Iris with Barry. Immediately, a good portion of her anger was filed away for another moment. "Oh my God!" she hurried over and, like Iris, greeted Barry with a tight hug, "You woke up!"

"Quite literally an hour ago," Barry chuckled and hugged back, "It's nice to see you again, Belén."

"It's really nice to see _you_ up and _walking_!" Belén laughed for a moment, but as much as she tried being happy there was always that part of her with her true feelings making itself visible.

And because Iris was there, she recognized the feelings quite well. "Bells, what's going on?"

"I don't...I don't want to ruin..." Belén's eyes briefly flickered to Barry, "...your moment..."

"Hey," Iris reached to touch Belén's arm, "you can tell us. What's going on?"

Belén couldn't help sniffle as she breathed in, "I'm happy you're back, Barry," she said instead then glanced at Iris, "Good things had to happen for someone at least."

Barry looked at Iris for some explanation for Belén's words but Iris focused entirely on Belén. She stepped closer to Belén, hoping to get her talking. "What is it?" she softly asked.

Belén's tears found their way out at the same time her words did, "They closed Rayan's case down for the moment. Apparently there's no more evidence."

"Oh, oh no!" Iris took Belén into a hug and glanced at Barry who was staring in utter confusion. Belén's brother was dead!? Well, he didn't even know Belén had a brother to begin with...or maybe he did and he just couldn't remember. 9 months in a coma did that to you.

Belén recollected herself for the sake of her appearance and Barry's newfound consciousness. He didn't deserve such a spectacle during his first hours back in the world. She wiped some tears off her face and stepped back from Iris. "I'm sorry, Barry. It's good to have you back again. I'm happy for you and Iris," she sniffled and went on her way, ignoring Iris' calls for her to wait.

"What...just happened?" Barry asked after a minute of silence.

Iris sighed and looked at him sadly, "Belén's brother went missing a while after the Particle Accelerator explosion and the police had been following the case. You know, Belén kept telling me you would wake up one day soon and that everything would be okay. I had to admit I had my doubts but in the end she was right. Now...I feel bad for her."

"Why?"

"Because you're awake and I know everything is going to be okay for us. But, Belén will probably never see her brother again. She's helped a lot in these past months and she doesn't deserve this."

"No one does," Barry corrected with a small sigh, also feeling sorry for the ombre-blonde woman. As he looked back at the room he saw, once again in slow motion, an arrested man try to take a gun from an inspector holding him. Without thinking, Barry rushed to stop him all in the matter of a second - and no one ever noticed.

"Screw you!" the arrested shouted at the inspectors.

Barry could no longer ignore the fact this had happened a second time. He faced Iris who took notice of his change in attitude, "You ok?" she asked.

"I-I'm fine," he said slowly, making a move to leave, "I-I just need some air. I'll call you tonight. All right?" he didn't wait for Iris' answer before he ran off.

He made it to the alleyway near the department and felt his hands and legs shaking. Seeing his hands vibrating, he raised them. "Wh-what's happening to me?" Without his permission, his legs ran off in high speed and he crashed into a police car, shattering its front, "Ah!" he shouted as he found himself going head-straight down the alley. He abruptly stopped and took a moment to think about it. When he realized he could run faster, he went for a test drive and ran down the remainder of the alleyway into the back of a laundry van, "Awesome!" his head poke up from the pile of laundry bags with a wide grin, no longer afraid.

~ 0 ~

After returning to Star Labs and explaining his happenings to Caitlin, Cisco and Dr. Wells, he was taken out for a practice session of his abilities. As Barry was changing into the needed attire, the three employees worked on the equipment.

"You don't really believe he can run _that_ fast, do you?" Caitlin asked Dr. Wells as they wound up some wires.

"Oh c'mon," Cisco cut in with a loud scoff, "did you not read about the purple girl who stole from the jewelry store last month? If she shoots out purple stuff from her hands why can't Barry run fast?"

Caitlin rolled her eyes in response. At that moment, Barry joined the group wearing a bright red racing suit.

"How does it fit?" Cisco asked.

"It's a little snug," Barry answered in an uncomfortable manner.

"At least you'll be moving so fast, no one will see you," Cisco tried to cheer him up, "See, you thought the world was slowing down, it wasn't. You were moving so fast, it only looked like everyone else was standing still." Barry looked like he hadn't understood any of it...because he hadn't. "Doctor Wells will be monitoring your energy output, and Caitlin your vitals," Cisco added after a moment of awkward silence.

"What do you do?" Barry asked him curiously.

A wide grin broke across Cisco's face, "I make the _toys_ , man. Check it," he held a small headset to Barry, "This is a two-way headset with a camera I modified. Typically designed to combat battlefield impulse noise, or, in your case, potential sonic booms. Which would be awesome."

Caitlin came by to check over some equipment at the table Cisco had set down his 'toys'. As she lurked through them, she noticed Barry's look on her, "What?"

"Nothing," Barry shrugged, "I just noticed you don't smile too much," and it was true, he thought. Cisco couldn't stop smiling when it came to all these possible power talks and even Dr. Wells managed a smile here and there.

Caitlin took a breath before she answered, "My once promising career in bio-engineering is over. My boss is in a wheelchair for life. The explosion that put you in a coma, also killed my fiancé. So this blank expression kinda feels like the way to go."

Barry raised his eyebrows in surprise at such a cold response. It reminded him a little of Belén only even she managed to smile despite what she was going through.

"Mister Allen," Dr. Wells' voice cut through Barry's thoughts, "while I am extremely eager to determine your full range of abilities, I do caution restraint."

"Yeah," Barry understood and went to the starter line. He took a deep breath and started running like he normally would...only to realize he was running at light speed.

"He just passed 200 knots per hour," Cisco gawked.

"That's not possible," even Caitlin was left gaping at such speed they were seeing.

Everything was going fine until Barry started to think of his mother's murder that involved pretty much the same type of lightning that was now _his_. Heavily distracted, he ran himself straight into a row of barrels at the end of the track. A couple of hours later would find Barry and the others back at Star Labs where Caitlin had taken his injuries under her work.

"It looks like you had a distal radius fracture," she concluded three hours later but her voice sounded in awe.

"Had?" Barry raised an eyebrow, confused of the choice of words.

"It's _healed_ ," Caitlin motioned to the X-rays she had taken earlier, "In three hours."

"How is that even possible?"

"We don't know. Yet."

"You really need to learn how to stop," Cisco couldn't help his chuckle as he replayed the image of Barry crashing into the row of barrels. It was like a video game, only this probably hurt Barry.

Wells was more concerned than amused, "What happened out there today? You were moving pretty well, and then something caused you to lose focus."

"I started remembering something," Barry sighed and decided to tell them the truth, "When I was 11, my mother was murdered. It was late, a sound woke me up. I came downstairs, and I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning, there was a man. He killed my mom. They arrested my dad. He's still sitting in Iron Heights for her murder. Everyone, the cops, the shrink, they they all told me what I saw was impossible. But what if the man who killed my mom was like me?"

While Caitlin and Cisco exchanged looks of even more awe and pity, Dr. Wells took the response himself, "Well I think I can say unequivocally you are one of a kind."

"Are we done for the day?" Barry couldn't help ask, feeling much more tired than he was used to. Then again, in the past he couldn't run at light speed so that could probably be it.

"Yes," Dr. Wells nodded, "but we do expect you to come back for further tests," Barry nodded in agreement and so Wells wheeled out of the room.

"Oh, hey, if you're going back to Iris could you give her this?" Cisco hurried to the computers where Caitlin had put away Belén's forgotten journal, "It's not hers but I figured she could just hand it to Bells later."

"Bells?" Barry remained confused for a minute on the name he had never once heard.

"Belén," Cisco explained with a sheepish smile, "I kinda give nicknames to everyone. Could you just take it to Iris please?"

"Why is this here?" Barry looked at the others while he took the journal into his hands. It was clearly a class journal but the fact it was Belén's and not Iris' left him wondering how it could have ended up here.

"Belén came with Iris over the nine months you were here," Caitlin explained, "Sometimes with Iris, sometimes on her own when Iris had a class or a shift."

"Belén stayed here...with me?" for some reason that made Barry feel a little guilty.

"Talked your ears off, how did you not hear that?" Cisco commented behind him with a chuckle.

"Cisco," Caitlin scolded him for the joke.

"Oh, she knows I kid," Cisco waved her off without much care.

Barry stared at the journal in his hands and, without thinking about it, asked, "Did you guys hear about her brother?"

"Yeah," Caitlin sighed quietly, "just another of the fallen. I mean...that's what we're assuming by. Many people went missing because of the Particle Accelerator."

"They closed the case down today," Barry looked up to the employees, noticing their change in attitude signifying they hadn't learned about that yet.

"Poor Bells," Cisco sucked in a breath, "She really does not deserve this."

Barry agreed with a nod and started off, though stopped when he had a change of destination, "Hey," he glanced back to the room, "Do you guys know where she could be at this time?"

Cisco checked his watch and made a face, "Oh, at the park. That's her brother's favorite place in the city. Definitely can find her there."

"Thanks," Barry waved and hurried off. He had no idea what exactly he wanted to tell Belén but he knew he had to be there to at least thank her for what she had done in the nine months he was out.

~ 0 ~

As Cisco had predicted, Belén was sitting at one of the park benches alone. While there wasn't something precise to look at, her eyes had a gaze at the fountain where there were several candles and other small trinkets placed on the ground. No matter how many times she looked at the spot she always ended up in tears as if it were the first time she was looking at it.

"Belén?" she heard her name being called and looked up to see Barry coming to take a seat beside her, holding her journal in hand, "Hey…"

Belén sniffed and wiped some tears off her face, "Did I forget that at Star Labs?" she pointed to the journal, "I'm always forgetting stuff…"

Barry took a seat beside her and gave the journal back, "Cisco mentioned you left it earlier."

"Well, thank you," Belén placed the journal beside her, "Not that it will make a difference - I'll fail the class anyways."

Barry couldn't quite configure such hoplessness in the woman that had seemed so cheery the last time they met. But then Barry reminded himself it had been nine months ago and in those nine months many things had happened to Belén.

"It's me," Belén suddenly said, her eyes back on the fountain, though she was able to see the surprise on Barry's face, "I know that look you have - 'is that really Belén?' Yes, it's me. My Dad did the thing months ago so I know what it looks like. Even Iris does it sometimes...but she doesn't tell me.

"I-I'm sorry," Barry became flustered and looked away from her after realizing he had only been staring at her. Instead, he saw what she had been staring since he arrived. "What's...what's that?" he nodded to the fountain.

"When my brother went missing I came here and I put some things of his there," Belén answered almost monotonously, "Since then my sister has added some things, his friends too, and my dad." She let a moment of silence pass between them before asking, "Barry, no offense, but what are you doing here?" she tore her gaze from the fountain to look at him, "You should be with your family. Iris has gone mad for these past months and I know she can use her brother with her. Don't waste your time on a stranger."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't consider people who visit me nearly every day while I'm in a 9 month coma to be a stranger," Barry lightly smiled at her, slightly disappointed she didn't smile back.

"Of course I visited you - I like you," Belén shrugged casually, "But that doesn't change the fact you know nothing of me and I know nothing of you."

"Then let's start again, and this time I promise not to fall under a coma on the same night," Barry shifted to face her, holding his hand out to her, "I'm Barry Allen and you?"

Belén playfully rolled her eyes, showing off a hint of a smile that made Barry beam, "Belén Palayta," she said as if there was nothing left to do. She shook his hand afterwards, "And if you fall into a coma tonight I will beat you."

Barry laughed at the threat that didn't really sound like a threat when it came out of her mouth. "I promise not to. So, you want to tell me how I can help with your brother's case?"

Belén's playful aura disappeared at the mention of her brother, "There's nothing the police department can do now, apparently. There's just no evidence to support he lives."

"Good thing I'm here then because I happen to be very smart," Barry pointed to himself.

"Barry, there's nothing you can do," Belén repeated, sounding hopeless herself, "There's nothing no one can do. Everything points to Rayan being dead, but…"

"You don't believe it," Barry finished for her.

"Of course not," Belén agreed, "Not till I see his corpse. I can't let you help because I'm afraid you're just going to tell me what everyone else has - there's nothing left to do," her dark brown eyes glistened with tears as she looked back at him, "And I'd rather not hear that again."

"I'm sorry, Belén," Barry apologized as if it were his fault, "I know what it's like to lose a family member. The pain is like no other."

Belén sniffled and struggled not to cry there and then, "Rayan is my twin. We've gone through life always together. When my parents divorced...and everything around us turned hectic, Rayan was always there to make me feel better. I can't...I just can't accept he's gone. He can't...he can't be."

"Belén," Barry said before she broke down.

She caught herself and jumped out of her spot on the bench, "I need to go," she snatched her journal off the bench.

"No, Belén, stop," Barry got to his feet and turned her around to him, "Let me help, please."

But Belén shook her head, smiling in what one would call amusement, "I know you like to help people, but this is one problem you cannot solve. I will take my burden and I will do what I can with it," she gently pushed his hand off her arm and walked away.

Barry felt a new sense of helplessness as he watched Belén leave. That was certainly not the way he wanted things to end. He glanced at the small set of trinkets left for Rayan at the fountain, letting his mind wander to strategies he hadn't yet considered.

~ 0 ~

With a long sigh, Iris walked along the street with Barry, listening to what he had to say about Belén as well also explaining to Barry about her secret boyfriend, Eddie Thawne. Barry had caught them kissing earlier at Jitters and of course he wanted to hear the story of how that happened.

"You can't tell my dad," Iris warned, "He doesn't know about me and Eddie."

"Doesn't seem like anyone's in on the secret," Barry shrugged.

"Well, Belén knows," Iris said, not sure if that made things better, "She was actually the one who encouraged me to do it. When you were in the hospital, Eddie covered my father's shifts so that we could both be with you. I thanked him with a cup of coffee, and things just kind of happened. He kept asking me out and when Belén forced me to go out it turned out to be good."

"Dating your partner's daughter, it's not against department regulations?" Barry joked with her and got a small laugh.

"Oh, ha, ha, very funny," she playfully rolled her eyes.

Barry glanced back and saw a police car chasing after another. It skidded closer to them and knowing it would hit them, Barry grabbed Iris by the arms and sped them away before going to chase the pursued car himself.

When Barry got into the car he came to the shock of finding Mardon, the precise one that was supposed to be dead, inside. Causing an accident with the car, Mardon jumped out of the car and made an escape on foot while also creating a thick layer of fog to hide him. Just as Barry rose to his feet, he saw the fog cause a car to crash into Mardon's car and flip over not too far away. Breathless from such a catastrophe, Barry looked around hoping to find even a glimpse of Mardon but unfortunately there was nothing left but injured innocents and death.

~ 0 ~

"That poor man," Iris breathed at the sight of accident the cars left behind, "The way that fog came in, I have never seen anything like it."

Joe had listened to the accident over the communication system and rushed to the site knowing Iris and Barry had been near it, "Barry! Iris!"

"I'm all right, Dad," Iris hugged him and smiled.

"What the hell were you thinking having her out there?" Joe promptly got on his irritated act for being near the pursuit, "No, no, no and I told you!" he pointed at Iris. "When you see danger, you run the other way! You're not a cop!"

"Because you wouldn't let me!" Iris had to snap back.

"You're damn right!"

Barry was not in the mood to hear another round of arguments concerning Iris' real passion, "Joe, I need to talk to you."

"It can wait," Joe waved him off but it did not work.

"No, now. I know who did this," Barry announced, "It's Clyde Mardon. I know, everybody thinks he died in a plane crash after the Star Labs explosion, but he is alive. All right, something happened to him that night. I, I think he can control the weather. The recent robberies, they all happened during freak meteorological events. And when I just confronted Mardon, the street was instantly enveloped in fog. Of course you don't believe me. You never believe me."

Joe shook his head, running a hand down his face, "Okay, you wanna do this now? Out here?" he motioned to the public area but that didn't move Barry away, "Mardon is dead. There is no controlling the weather, Barry. Just like there was no lightening storm in your house that night. It was your brain helping a scared little boy accept what he saw."

Barry became angry that topic had been brought up and once again discarded as irrelevant, "My dad did not murder my mom."

"Yes, he did!" Joe erupted into small shouts, "Your dad killed your mother, Barry. I am sorry, son, but I knew it, the jury knew it, now he's paying for what he did."

Iris saw enough and exclaimed, "Dad, enough!"

"No, Iris!" he snapped at her too then continued with Barry, "I have done my best to take care of you since that night, and I never asked for anything in return, not even a thank you, but what I do ask now, is that you for once in your life, see things as they are."

Angrily, Barry stalked off, choosing not to waste time with people who clearly would not believe him. His stop became Star Labs as there was some people that needed to do some explaining.

"I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion, was I?" he demanded of Dr. Wells, Caitlin and Cisco the moment he entered the cortex room.

"We don't know for sure," Dr. Wells answered with an awkward clear of his throat.

"Purple girl," Cisco made sure to remind, though it only confused Barry as he hadn't yet caught himself up with the latest in Central City.

"What happened the night the particle accelerator exploded?" Barry inquired from the true.

"Well, the accelerator went active, we all felt like heroes, and then, it all went wrong," Dr. Wells replied, "A dimensional barrier ruptured, unleashing unknown energies into our world, anti-matter, dark energy, X-elements…"

"Those are all theoretical…"

"Purple girl!" Cisco insisted with a loud groan, as if there wasn't more evidence needed than that incident to prove powers were a side effect from the explosion.

With a sigh, Wells nodded at Cisco's comment, "We've mapped dispersion throughout and around Central City but we have no way of knowing exactly what or who was exposed. We've been searching for other metahumans, like yourself."

" _Metahumans_?" Barry stopped him at the new word.

"That's what we are calling them," Caitlin explained quietly, not too happy with the situation herself, "Up to now there's only really been one other person who exhibited abilities like yourself."

"Well I saw another one today," Barry declared, "and he's a bank robber and he can control the weather."

Cisco giggled like a child, "This keeps getting cooler and cooler. Super speed," he pointed at Barry, "Weather controller and purple gumbo controller?"

"Purple Gumbo?" Caitlin repeated, making a disapproving face at him.

"Yeah, I know, not the best description but there's not much to go by," Cisco gave a big shrug.

"Hello!?" Barry waved his hands to get their attention, "A man died. Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did. From the storm cloud. He's still out there. We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else."

"Barry," Wells shook his head, "That's a job for the police."

"Yeah, well, I work for the police."

"As a forensic assistant."

"You're responsible for this. For him!" Barry accused Wells, even more angry than when he walked in.

"What's important is you!" Wells argued back, "Not me. I lost everything. I lost my company. I lost my reputation. I lost my freedom. And then you broke your arm, and it healed in three hours. Inside your body, could be a map to a whole new world genetic therapy, vaccines, medicines, treasures, Barry. Deep within your cells, and we cannot risk losing everything because you want to go out and play hero. You're not a hero. You're just a young man who was struck by lightning."

Once more shot down, Barry stalked off. Was no one seriously going to try and help him with this case?

He supposed now...he could understand...Belén.

~ 0 ~

Belén furiously stood with her arms crossed and struggled not to cut off her parents in the middle of their 'what we think is best for you' lecture. She was still trying to get over the fact her mother was in the city again. It made a lot more sense when she realized Veronica Green had only come back to lecture her.

"And so, we think it would do you good if you accompanied me back to Starling City," her mother concluded.

The face Belén wore told Veronica and her ex-husband she was outright refusing the suggestion.

"I cannot believe this is the reason you came back from Starling," Belén laced her words with scorn and resentment, "Cos that's the only way you'd come back, huh? When we're so broken you can't possibly do a worse job than before."

"Annah-Belén Palayta you do not speak to me like that," her mother's voice rose in tone yet it didn't make Belén flinch one bit.

"I speak to you however I wish," Belén bitterly laughed as she glanced at her father, "Did you really think this would be a good idea, Dad? Have her take me away?"

"Belén," David sighed, "I'm afraid you're going to enter some sort of depression state. I think a little time away from Central City could be a good thing for you. There is nothing but sad stories here - your brother's missing case, crimes increasing, people getting hurt, even Iris' poor brother in that coma."

"He woke up, dad," Belén slowly said, the energy to fight slowly leaving her system. She was beyond tired having to explain to her own father why she couldn't let go of Rayan disappearance, "Not everything is so 'sad'."

"Well, I'm happy to hear that," David honestly said, "But I still think taking a small trip to Starling could help you."

"Come darling," Veronica stepped towards Belén, "You can stay with me. And, you can even see the Lances' remember? You used to be so close to them. Their father still works at the precinct with me."

"Of course I do," Belén muttered, "Just like I remember all my other friends from that city but that does not mean I want to go back. Besides, you do remember I still have a class to finish before I graduate?"

"We went to the university and talked to the dean - they understand our situation and were willing to give you permission for a month absence," her father explained, but that only infuriated Belén more.

"You went to my school behind my back!? What is wrong with you!?" Belén growled and stalked away from her parents, "I am twenty-five years old! You cannot treat me like this!"

"We're not treating you like a child if that's your argument," Veronica frowned, "We simply agreed this would do good for you and your health."

"What?" Belén laughed and turned to them, "So you think bringing me to the city that gets mauled every couple months will do good for my health?"

"We have help," Veronica assured, sounding almost offended.

"I'm not going anywhere," Belén declared firmly, "I will stay here and I will continue to look for Rayan on my own if I have to. Since, you know, you apparently ceased to care for him."

"We love Rayan," David's voice also rose, "But after months of nothing there is not enough hope to keep us going, sweetie. Rayan is dead, and we have to move on."

"He is not dead, Daddy," Belén's voice turned frail as she returned to him, her eyes filled with fresh tears. She grabbed his hands and pleaded him to listen to her. "You gotta believe me, okay? I can feel it. He's my twin and I know he's still alive somewhere out there. We just need to keep looking."

"Belén, I am a cop and I know what these cases do to people," Veronica sighed, "And I know when to stop believing in what is not. Rayan is dead, sweetheart."

Belén's anger returned in a flash, "NO!" she screamed, "He is not and I will not stop looking for him! I'm not going anywhere so you can head back to where you came from!" with that, Belén ran out of the house before her parents could continue arguing with her. She didn't understand why in such a large city she felt so alone and helpless.

~ 0 ~

After several hours, and a sudden trip to Starling City for advise, Barry returned to Star Labs where now Caitlin and Cisco were. He was determined to implement some change in the city whether they wanted or not.

"I've been going over unsolved cases from the past 9 months, and there's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths, and missing people," he announced to them, "Your metahumans have been busy."

In one of those cases was Belén's twin brother's case and after carefully reading it over and knowing what other officers didn't, Barry was sure Rayan Palayta's disappearance had been at the hands of metahumans. That was the precise reason the police department wasn't able to help her anymore - they didn't believe.

"I'm not blaming you, I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something. But I need your help to catch Mardon, and anyone else out there like him. But I can't do it without you."

It didn't look like Cisco and Caitlin were very surprised to hear those words. It almost seemed like they had been thinking similar thoughts before. Cisco stood up and started for a mannequin display across the room, "If we're gonna do this I have something that might help. Something I've been playing with," he turned the mannequin over to reveal a bright, red costume sitting on it, "It's designed to replace the turnouts firefighters traditionally wear. I thought if Star Labs could do something nice for the community, maybe people wouldn't be so angry at Doctor Wells anymore."

"How is it gonna help me?" Barry eyed the red-leather, one suited thing with hesitance.

"It's made of a reinforced tri-polymer. It's heat and abrasive resistant, so it should withstand your moving at high-velocity speed," Cisco explained, "And the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. Plus, it has built-in sensors, so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here."

"Thanks," Barry loved the streak of luck. "Now, how do we find Mardon?"

Caitlin cleared her throat to signal her cutting in, "I re-tasked Star Labs satellites to track meteorological abnormalities over Central City. We just got a ping," she pulled up a version of the map on one of the computer screens hung on the walls. "Atmospheric pressure dropped 20 millibars in a matter of seconds. I've tracked it to a farm just west of the city."

"That's where the brothers hid last time," Barry realized and rushed for the suit, "We gotta go!"

~ 0 ~

Out in the farm was, as Barry predicted, Mardon Clyde hiding. With him was Joe and Eddie who followed leads using the last time the case had been opened.

"Mardon? On your feet. Hands on your head," Joe warned as he pulled out his gun, Eddie doing the same beside him.

Mardon did no such thing and only stood across them. "You got me. The night of the storm, after Star Labs blew, after our plane went down, and I woke up on the ground, alive. When I saw what I could do, I understood. I am _God_."

"Shut the hell up! Turn around!"

Mardon ignored the order and caused an explosion nearby with his powers, "You think your guns can stop God?!"

"Why in the hell would God need to rob banks?" Joe snapped.

"You're right. I've been thinking too small," Mardon turned around and easily began to create a tornado that caught two of the policemen on site. Joe was caught by a chunk of debris picked up from the ground.

Barry arrived in time to help the police, now in disguise, and was able to hear Cisco and Caitlin from the earpod built into the suit.

"Barry, Barry, this thing is getting closer," Cisco warned as the tornado did indeed pick up speed, "Wind speeds are 200 miles per hour, and increasing. Barry, can you hear me?"

"Yeah. Loud and clear."

"If it keeps up, this could become an F5 tornado!"

Barry looked at the tornado and its possible direction, "And it's headed towards the city. How do I stop it? Guys? What if I unravel it?"

"How the hell are you gonna do that?" came Caitlin's icy scolding tone through the earpod.

"I'll run around it in the opposite direction, cut off its legs!"

"You'd have to clock 700 miles per hour to do that," warned Cisco, sounding doubtful.

"Your body may not be able to handle those speeds. You'll die," added Caitlin.

"I have to try," Barry insisted and didn't wait for another round of warnings when he started to run.

"The suit's holding up!" Cisco exclaimed, now sounding excited his creation was working.

Caitlin, on the other hand, was focusing more on Barry's vitals, "But _he's_ not!"

Barry found himself promptly thrown out the tornado and fell to the ground, "He's too strong."

Suddenly, Dr. Well's voice came over the headset - and with encouraging words, "You can do this, Barry. You're right, I am responsible for all this. So many people have been hurt, because of me, and when I looked at you, all I saw was a potential victim of my hubris, and yes, I created this madness, but you, Barry, you can stop it. You can do this now, run! Barry, run!"

Barry took in a big breath as he once again attempted to fight off Mardon. However, this time Mardon pulled out a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Barry.

"Hey! I didn't think there was anyone else like me," he commented in genuine surprise.

Barry took that as an insult and promptly replied with, "I'm not like you. You're a murderer."

Before Mardon could do more Joe was able to get out of the debris and shoot Mardon right on the chest. He then looked at the new man in red, easily identifying him as Barry.

"Barry?" Caitlin asked in concern, having heard nothing but a gunshot.

"It's over, I'm okay," Barry soon reassured then faced Joe, unsure of what to do nor say next.

"What you can do...it was the lightning bolt?" Joe was the first to break the silence, still glancing from where the tornado had originated then back to Barry.

"More or less," Barry gave a light shrug.

I'm sorry, Barry. I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Joe started to ramble in his apology, "And I called you crazy for chasing the impossible. But you really did see something that night your mom died," and then it hit him, "And your dad is innocent. I need you to promise me something. I don't want you telling Iris about anything you can do. Any of it. I want her safe. Promise me."

While the idea didn't sit well with Barry he agreed to it and relieved Joe. He gave a nod, "Okay."

~ 0 ~

"Great job!" Cisco gave a high-five to Barry when he returned to the cortex.

"It did feel good," Barry couldn't stop smiling like an idiot as he came to join them. Even Caitlin looked more pleased than she had since he'd met her.

"Good job, Mr. Allen," Dr. Wells also said, "But you realize there will be more training sessions. You cannot go around without a proper plan."

"Understood," Barry nodded.

"You should let me upgrade that thing more," Cisco pointed to the red suit, "I have a couple more ideas."

"Actually," Barry stepped away, his smile turning into a cheeky one that told the others he had another plan in mind, "do you think it can go out for one more trip? A real small one, promise."

"What did you have in mind?" Wells inquired.

"Caitlin, do you think you can make a call to someone?"

Caitlin gave a nod, "Yeah. Who'd you have in mind?" she asked, wondering what-oh-what did the new metahuman have in mind.

~ 0 ~

Belén was sniffling in the middle of her conversation over the phone with Iris. She was walking back to her house under a dark night, and she sincerely hoped her father had gone to sleep and that her mother had already left. She was in no mood to see them nor talk to them. She had finished a conversation with Caitlin over the phone, explaining what occurred and while it did feel good to vent to someone, it was still not going to get Rayan back. Now, she was having another venting session with Iris.

"You're not actually going to leave, right?" Iris was concerned after hearing all that had happened in the Palayta residence. She knew that the relationship between Belén and her mother wasn't quite good and she sincerely thought if Belén went back with her mother...it would only cause bigger problems.

"No, of course not," Belén angrily replied, "As _if_ I would listen to them about this. I'm not going anywhere. No one wants to help me but that's not gonna stop me."

And suddenly, a fast wind picked up and the next thing Belén knew she stumbled back holding a piece of paper in her hand. Her dark eyes scanned the immediate area for anything suspicious but there was no one in the streets except for her. She looked down at the paper and turned it over, seeing the words ' _I will help you_ ' written across it.

"Iris, I gotta go," Belén said absentmindedly and hung up. She made face, scrunching her nose, as she reread the words, "What the hell...?"

Another fast wind happened and a bright manila folder laid right in front of her feet. Belén slowly bent down to pick it up and upon opening it she was surprised to find it was her brother's case. The police department had locked away all of his cases' contents, declaring it officially closed. There was a blue sticky note stuck to the front of the folder.

 _I'll help you find your brother._

Belén didn't know why she was beginning to smile. She was just reading random notes.

"Who's out there?" she found herself asking, but received no answer. Instead, she felt arms around her and suddenly she was standing just outside of her house's front door. Almost amused, Belén whirled around to the front yard, hoping to catch a glimpse of what ever was doing all this. She rushed to the small steps leading up to the porch and looked out, "Come out," she pleaded softly and was mildly disappointed nothing, or no one, ever did. She looked down at her folder and smiled again before turning and heading inside her house.

Barry watched from a hidden spot as the woman smiled and walked inside the house. Over the earpod came Caitlin's voice, the tinge of disapproval not bothering him. "Barry, are you sure this was a good idea?"

"She smiled, Caitlin. She just wants someone to help her and it just so happens that I can actually help her now," Barry grinned and turned to return to Star Labs and call it an eventful night.


	3. A Hero to Hope For

At CC Picture News everyone bustled about with their daily tasks, including Linda Park which was why she was more than surprised to find her intern and friend comfortably sitting at her desk intently staring at something on her laptop. Normally, she would've teased Belén for whatever was captivating her so much but during the last nine months her life hadn't been as easy so Linda restrained herself.

She cleared her throat as she drew nearer to her desk and immediately Belén protectively placed her hands over the top of her laptop, slowly lowering the top, "Linda...hey…" Belén lightly smiled, "...did you need something?"

Linda narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the brunette, "Belén, is there something you want to share with me?"

"Um…" Belén's eyes flickered around the room, clearly in thought, "...not, not really. Why?"

"I don't know," Linda crossed her arms and went up the small steps leading to her desk and watched how Belén discreetly closed her laptop completely, "It's just during the last couple of days you've been a little more attentive to your computer than to anything else. And that's a problem because you're usually, you know," she made a yapping motion with her hand.

Belén playfully rolled her eyes and got up from Linda's chair, "I've just been looking into my brother's case, you know. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Except that case was closed, Belén," Linda gently reminded, understanding it was difficult for the woman to resign to her brother's death.

"But as a journalist it's my job to look into things," Belén promptly picked up her computer and bag which was underneath the desk.

Linda sighed, "Belén, you can take days off, you know. No one would reproach you for it."

Belén shoved her laptop a little quicker then, unable to contain her irritated sigh, "Linda, I'm fine. This place," she motioned with a finger, "is but one of the few places I can use to avoid home right now. The last thing I want to do is take a break," she slung her bag over her shoulder and straightened up, "I'm taking my lunch now," and she frankly didn't want to wait for her friend's further comments so she hurried out into the street.

Once outside and able to breath freely, she bit her lip and determinedly said, "I am not letting this go."

She dug into her bag until she pulled out her cellphone. As she walked down the street her fingers quickly swiped away until she was staring at the most recent sighting of a red streak. The wide smile that broke across her face was evidence enough she was confident that her new mysterious helper had to be that red streak. She hadn't seen them face to face, only received a couple more secret messages that assured her they were looking into the case of her brother. At least someone in the city believed there was more to discover in the case.

And that someone appeared to be striving for the hero way.

~ 0 ~

Barry wondered if Caitlin ever got tired of shouting at people. The woman didn't smile a lot but she sure had the voice adequate for a good, loud scolding. He supposed it was his fault for going out and saving people behind hers and Dr. Wells' back.

"Have you both you lost your minds!?" Caitlin was in the middle of her shouts, one loud enough to bring Barry out of his thoughts. Caitlin had her hands on her hips, her eyes flickering from Barry to Cisco wondering which one was more stupid for thinking this hero-saving was a good idea, "Who do you think you are?"

"Well," Cisco began, his tone indicating he didn't view the problem as severe as she did, "I'm the eyes and ears, and he's the feet," he chucked a thumb to Barry.

"This isn't funny," Caitlin snapped, "You could have gotten yourself killed. You can't be running around the city like some supersonic fireman."

"Why not?" Barry asked, "This is what we talked about: Me using my speed to do good."

Caitlin wagged a finger at him, "We talked about you helping us contain other people who might have been affected by the particle accelerator explosion. Metahumans. And aside from Clyde Mardon, we haven't found any."

Barry sighed, "People in this city still need help. And I can help them. _We_ can help them."

As much as Caitlin agreed they could help them, she wasn't very willing to let her new friend, along with her other friend, get themselves hurt. She glanced to Dr. Wells for some help, "Will you please say something?"

Dr. Wells cleared his throat and addressed the two men, "I think what Caitlin is saying, in her own spectacularly angry way, is that we are just beginning to understand what your body is capable of. Not to sound like a broken record, Mr. Allen... I do caution restraint."

"Dr. Wells... I doubt restraint is how you got to be the man you are today," Barry motioned, but Wells had a good response back.

"In a wheelchair and a pariah. Lack of restraint is what made me these things. Know your limits."

Caitlin was shaking her head in frustration, "Don't expect me to patch you up every time you break something," she warned Barry before walking towards the computers. She needed a small break from them before she exploded again.

Just as Cisco pulled Barry in the opposite direction in the room, they heard a distinct voice calling out names, clearly growing closer and closer.

"Cisco? Caitlin?" it was Belén who was coming down the corridor, making everyone panic but no one more than Barry.

"Go, go!" Caitlin motioned to Barry to head into one of the small side rooms and without a second thought Barry sped into the closest room and remained out of sight from the glass window.

"Cisco?" Belén popped her head into the room, her curious eyes scanning the room until she found the three remaining STAR Labs employees.

"Bells!" Cisco threw his arms in the air, nervously greeting her.

Belén sheepishly came inside, her hand rubbing her bag's strap up and down, "Afternoon, Dr. Wells," she greeted first.

"Afternoon, Miss Palayta," Wells gave her a nod and discreetly glanced to the side room in case Barry had stupidly decided to peek through. Thankfully, it appeared the metahuman was remaining hidden.

"Why do you guys look so...guilty?" Belén had quickly picked up on Caitlin's and Cisco's odd faces, ones she hadn't really seen in the last 9 months.

"Guilty? What?" Cisco waved her off and walked up to her, "What...what did you need?"

"Um…" Belén half-smiled, "...I'm avoiding home at all costs and since I haven't seen you nor Caitlin I was wondering if you guys wanted to do lunch right now. Also," she looked around the room, "I don't know if I imagined it but I thought, for a second, I heard Barry's voice."

"You probably just heard us mention him," Caitlin supplied the excuse fairly fast, even surprising herself with it.

Belén didn't put too much thought in it and merely shrugged, "Well, do you guys want to go, then?"

Cisco exchanged a look with Caitlin, both knowing they would have to come up with better excuses so Belén wouldn't come around Star Labs as much. In the meantime, they didn't want to hurt her feelings and thus cause her more pain than the amount she already felt at the moment.

"I can," Cisco raised a hand, immediately making the ombre-haired woman beam. He figured Caitlin could stick around with Barry and discuss the future plans of the hero-saving stuff while he took Belén out for a calm lunch.

"Great," Belén put a hand on his arm and glanced towards Caitlin, "Cait? What about you?"

"Oh, I...um...I can't," Caitlin turned her gaze to the computers in front of her, "I have to look over Barry's condition reports. It's gonna take me all day, sorry."

"It's okay," Belén assured, "As long as Barry turns out to be fine. Dr. Wells, I don't suppose you'd like to join us as well?"

"No, no," Wells shook his head, "I have to stay and oversee Caitlin's work. Thank you for the offer, though."

Belén gave Cisco a 'let's go' look and was turning to leave when she caught site of the display case meant to hold Barry's new supersuit. With a light hum, she remained facing in the direction of the display case, "What's that?" her finger pointed and made the three see the display.

"Um…" Cisco made a face as he decided on what to tell her.

Belén slowly walked towards the display case, missing the nervous looks of the employees behind her, "It looks like one of those mannequins you see at the stores. What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing," Caitlin tried their luck with a simple, brief answer.

"You know," Belén started to think as she now stood in front of the empy display case, "it's been a couple of days and I haven't really seen either of you guys."

"With Barry waking up there has been a lot more to do, Miss Palayta," Wells explained with a clear of his throat, making Belén glance back.

"I'm sure there is," she agreed, still thinking of her friends' strange behavior. Although the more she pondered the more she thought of herself and her erratic behavior.

"Bells, you want to go, then?" Cisco called after everything had fallen silent.

"Yeah, yeah," Belén returned to the computer area, "Lunch…"

"Anywhere in mind?" Cisco asked as they started making way out of the room. As they left, the others could hear Belén's deep sigh followed by a despondent 'I don't really care'.

A couple seconds later, Barry emerged from the side room. He glanced at the display case and realized that would have to be moved if Belén, or even Iris, came by.

"It appears we'll have to up our security around here," Wells spoke first after Cisco and Belén were completely gone.

"No," Barry immediately saw that idea ruining them, "If we do that, Belén will ask questions."

"But if we don't do something next time she _will_ walk in at the wrong moment," Caitlin warned her concern, "We have to come up with something."

"Caitlin's right," Wells agreed, settling his hands together over his lap, "Either come up with a way to get Belén to stop coming or…" he swayed his head while Caitlin gave him a look.

"Or?" she asked.

"Well, she has been here since day one - if you wanted to tell her, don't let us stop you," Wells told Barry with all honesty.

Barry sucked in a breath at the idea, unsure what he really wanted to do regarding Belén. Joe had made him swear not to tell Iris about anything metahuman-wise but Belén had not been mentioned once. He recalled Belén mentioning his father working at the big rivalry lab against Star Labs and the hatred the man apparently had for this lab. Her father would be even more on edge about his daughter being so close to those of Star Labs, and especially a new helper of the hazardous lab.

There was also the fact he had begun to help Belén with her brother's case in secret. While only being a couple days, he already felt responsible for keeping her hopes up. He hadn't actually made proper contact with her as this new vigilante that was looking over the city, and he supposed if that happened and Belén figured out it was him all along...she would not take it as well as he hoped she would.

~ 0 ~

"Are you sure you want to eat here?" Cisco repeated his question to Belén for about the tenth time despite the woman already telling him she wanted to eat at Jitters.

And, once more, Belén gave a nod, coming to a stop in front of Jitter's, "To be honest, I'm not very hungry," she admitted and glanced into the coffee shop, lightly sighing, "I just want to be with my friend - and away from home."

The fact he didn't know all Belén's problems made Cisco feel immensely guilty. When Barry had been in the coma, he practically had gotten to know Belén so well and close. Hell, he had even asked her out on a date at one point. He hadn't realized he'd been losing connection with her due to helping Barry out in the city.

The two friends walked inside the shop and spotted Iris coming out of the backroom at the counter with her purse slung over her shoulders, seemingly getting ready to leave the place. Upon seeing the two, however, Iris met them halfway.

"Hey," she gave each a hug then stepped back.

"You don't get out this early, do you?" Belén confusedly questioned, even glancing for the wall clock to see if she'd gone past her lunch hour.

"No," Iris waved a hand, "Barry and I have to go to some Simon Stagg event for one of my assignments so I got someone to cover my shift."

"Are you going to abuse him for science knowledge again?"

"Uh, yes, yes I am," Iris proudly nodded and looked at Cisco, "You're not going to tell him I abuse him right? I mean, Barry knows that's why I have him come with me but I don't want to flatout say it."

"It's all good," Cisco assured. He placed a hand on Belén's arm and motioned up ahead, "I'm gonna go get us a table, alright?"

"Okay," Belén nodded and so off went Cisco, leaving the two women alone for a minute.

Iris took a minute to study her friend and was sadly deemed her still nowhere near the happy, motor-mouth friend she had met so long ago. "Are you okay, Bells?" she went with the simple question but she really didn't know how else to start in that topic.

Belén deeply sighed and shook her head, "No. My mom is still here and she's nagging me to come back with her to Starling. What am I supposed to do?"

"Not leave for starters," Iris mumbled but quickly realized it hadn't been as quiet as she thought, "I mean, I mean if you don't want to…"

Belén playfully smiled, "She thinks by bringing me back with her I'll magically forget that my twin brother has gone missing. I'm a journalist for a reason - I don't forget things, I search until I get the truth. And truth is what I will get."

"Well, if you need anything, let me know," Iris made sure to show her full support, "And if you're really hell bent on staying away from home you can always stay with me."

"Don't you stay with Eddie a lot more now?"

"Yeah, but I can always cancel for a girl's night," Iris nudged her, satisfied to see Belén chuckle, "Now I really have to get going. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay," Belén smiled and watched her leave. She started towards the table that Cisco had parted for them when she abruptly stopped from a dizzy episode. While she only stumbled back a couple short steps, it was enough to make everything spin for a minute. When it slowly passed, Belén sucked in a deep breath and straightened up, thankful no one had noticed it. The last thing she needed was someone calling in a doctor. She went on her way to have lunch instead, although making a mental note to call Nina later in the day.

~ 0 ~

After rushed changing, Iris and Barry made it to the Simon Stagg event as was needed. Iris could not believe Barry had nearly forgotten he had promised to accompany her so he would help her with the science parts for her article. She would've blamed the coma for his lack of memory but that would be a lie - Barry was always forgetting things like these.

"Okay, all right, first things first…" Barry was reciting to her after hearing Stagg's speech, "Simon Stagg's work in cellular cloning has led to huge advancements in the future of organ replacement…" but he trailed off when Iris was paying more attention to a passing waiter with drinks on a tray.

After taking two glasses, Iris glanced at Barry, "Are journalists allowed to drink on the job?"

Barry disapprovingly took the glasses from her and put them down on a table, "Okay. If you are bored already, just wait till we get to the science behind cellular regeneration."

Iris chuckled and looped her arm around his, "I have missed this, Barry. I feel like we haven't spent any quality time together since you woke up from the coma."

Barry knew that was quite true. Ever since he woke up he had been busy trying to save people in the city and looking into Belén 's case, along with the other police department cases they sprung on him. "Yeah, I've had a crazy few weeks, I know," he said and felt worse for lying to her face.

"I thought maybe you'd been avoiding me because of Eddie. I know you think it's wrong, me dating my dad's partner, and I just—"

"No," Barry shook his head, "That's not it, not at all."

Iris smiled in relief and gasped when she saw Simon Stagg walking by them, "Oh! Oh! Mr. Stagg!" she called and went for him, "I was wondering if I could get a quote from you for my article…"

But one of the man's guards stopped her from getting any closer, "Not now, miss."

Iris made a face as the two men walked on by, "I'll just make something up," she decided and turned back for Barry.

As soon as they were together once more, they heard gunshots from across the room. Barry held her back as a couple of men, all dressed in black and covered around the face, walked in with guns.

"Quiet down! All of you!" the assumed leader ordered the crowd, "How considerate! You're all wearing your finest jewelry! Almost like you knew we were coming to rob you! Now everybody line up!"

With nothing much to do, the crowd obeyed and formed two lines where they were promptly forced to remove all their expensive accessories and drop them into black bags. Even Iris was forced to drop in a pretty bracelet. Suddenly, a cop showed up from another side of the room and was holding a gun at one of the thieves.

"Freeze! D-d-drop your weapons!"

Barry was able to see the thief pull out a gun to shoot the office with. Using his quick speed, Barry got the officer out before the shots reached him. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite there with his locations so he ended up going a little farther after leaving the officer. When he was about to go back into the building to deal with the thief, he found himself weak and fell against a dumpster.

Later on, Iris would find him at the exact location but on the ground instead. She had been so terrified to see him gone and nowhere in sight. Once the thieves had left and the police had arrived at the sight she dashed out to go find Barry. Seeing he was alright, in what fit, she brought him back into Stagg's building where her father and Eddie were looking into the case.

"Where were you?" Joe was quick to demand, half terrified when he'd gotten yet another informant on a robbery where his daughter and adoptive son were in.

"Dad, go easy," Iris motioned with a hand to stop, "I found him outside. He fainted."

"You want me to get you a paramedic, Allen?" Eddie asked, already making a move to leave when Barry shook his head.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Eddie," Barry assured and heard a carried out voice talking to an inspector. Glancing

to the side, Barry realized it had been the officer he managed to save, telling another officer what had occurred after the thief had shot.

Joe also heard and motioned to Barry to follow, "Let me talk to you for a second," once they were a decent amount away from Iris and Eddie, he spoke metahuman topics, "You chased those gunmen, didn't you?"

"Yeah, they must be the same guys that knocked over the gun shop earlier today."

"And what were you going to do when you caught them? Huh? Ask them nicely to pull over? You're not bulletproof," but Joe had paused curiously, "Wait, are you?"

"No," Barry answered rather glumly about it, "but-"

"Okay, no more heroics," Joe declared, "Chasing bad guys is not your job. It's mine. You're not a cop. Promise me. Promise," he waited until Barry gave his resigned nod, "And you know Iris is not stupid. Start making better excuses than "I fainted."

Barry rolled his eyes but accepted that was also true. It appeared lying to his friends, or in this case really only Iris and Belén was a lot tougher than he anticipated.

~ 0 ~

Nina was setting out many medical pages over her kitchen table for Belén and her to look over. She occasionally glanced at Belén who had resided in her balcony while she retrieved the medical records. Much like the others, she was increasingly getting more worried over Belén's complete change in attitude towards anything. Though knowing Belén longer than anyone else, it made her worry skyrocket.

"Belén, they're here," she quietly called to the blonde woman before going back into the kitchen.

Belén silently walked back into the kitchen, sliding shut the balcony door then heading towards the table where laid all her records, and research. As she picked up one, she glanced to Nina and saw her creating a mushy, green milkshake in a blender. "Do you have to make that again?"

"Well, we've discovered it's the only thing that can maintain you for a while," Nina dropped in a couple spoons of sugar, "So yes, I have to. It's just nutrients."

Belén made a distasteful face and returned her gaze to the paper in front of her, "Why am I looking at this again? I'm pretty sure I got the jist of it all."

"Do we really?" Nina challenged with a quizzical look. She momentarily stopped with the ingredients to turn to her friend, "I'm a Doctor, Belén, but this is way out of my zone. I'm not Caitlin Snow nor Cisco Ramon. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more things we haven't picked up on."

Belén knew where the conversation was heading and immediately shut it down, "Nina, I came to you because I wanted some advice, or ideas."

"And this is my idea," Nina opened her arms, "Come clean to STAR Labs and get some help. I can only do so much for you here."

Still refusing she looked away, "I can't. What would they know about it?"

"Um, plenty of it considering _they_ worked on the very thing that created this problem."

"They have their hands full with Barry, anyways. Besides, this is my thing and I can fix it on my own."

"Can you really?" Nina arched an eyebrow at the woman before turning on the blender.

Feeling dizzy again, Belén plopped herself down on a chair and slumped back. She hated feeling so weak and useless, especially when she couldn't afford it. She needed to be searching for her brother, not trying to decipher medical records. As soon as Nina gave her the disgusting green milkshake, Belén did her best to down it all in a couple of drinks and gathered her things to go on her way.

"Where are you going?" Nina called as Belén opened the door.

"Places to be," Belén called back and left the apartment.

~ 0 ~

In an alleyway, under a dark night, had gathered up Danton Black, responsible for the latest robberies in the city, and Simon Stagg's head of security. Danton had strikes a deal with Java to give him access to Stagg in an easy way but due to the mishap of the robbery earlier, Stagg had gotten out alive. After requesting more information on Stagg and Java refusing, Danton revealed he could clone himself and thus Java with a violent beat down. As Danton was getting ready to leave the scene, a light purple mass hit only a couple feet from him.

He glanced back to see a woman in purple leather jumping down to the ground, "Danton Black," her modified voice called, "I have a deal for you."

"I don't need any deals," Danton dismissed the woman and was about to walk away when another heavy purple mass hit him on the back, making him crash to the ground.

"Funny, because I think you do," the woman came up to Danton and even though the only thing he could see were her eyes, he could tell she was just another criminal, "Let us help each other, no? You clearly want Simon Stagg dead and I am more than willing to make it easier."

When Danton got back on his feet, he studied the woman more carefully, "And how is a small woman like you gonna help me, hm?"

The woman merely chuckled and glanced to the side where her two purple masses were, "I think it's clear I can put up a fight. I can help, I want to help."

"And why is that?"

"Because, like you, I have lost someone as well. And I want revenge," the woman declared with a darkness in her tone. "Fortunately, I am with someone who wants the same things that I do. You can be a fine addition."

"I'm not looking to join some super villain squad," Danton rolled his eyes, "I'm only want Stagg. And I certainly don't need it from a purple girl."

"Call me Plasticine," the woman said calmly, "Mr. Black, I would think very carefully of what you decide. You need help. That's why we're reaching out."

Danton persisted in his refusal and leaned forwards to the woman, "I, do not."

"If you decide otherwise find me here tomorrow night, ten o'clock. Choose wisely, Mr. Black," Plasticine smirked and walked past him, leaving the man to consider the idea of allies.

~ 0 ~

The next day, in the afternoon, Barry was hard at work in his lab, or rather trying to with all the thoughts he tried pushing away constantly. Things were no where near good and it was barring him from actual, coherent thought.

When he saw Joe coming in he assumed the worst and asked, "Come to yell at me again?" after last night's argument, a heavy one where Barry did now admit (to himself) he had said words he didn't mean, he thought perhaps Joe wasn't finished with his scolds.

Joe merely held out two bags of evidence to Barry, "Simon Stagg's head of security was murdered last night. The coroner took some skin samples," he handed one of the bags over, "and they also found some gunk in several places of the scene," the next bag Barry took felt chunky, some pieces hard and the others soft. "Hopefully they belong to the killer. See if you can find a match. Can't be a coincidence that Stagg's benefit was attacked last night. I'm going to interview Stagg now."

"I'll come with you," Barry volunteered but only made it one step towards the door when Joe shot him down.

"Your job is in here. Stay in here and do it," Joe turned to leave and met his daughter at the threshold.

"Hey, Dad," Iris greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, baby. Gotta go," Joe smiled for her and went on his way.

Iris made a face at Barry as she approached him, "Okay, why is my dad mad at you?" she put down her coffee cup on the table, along with several sugar packs.

"Work stuff," Barry mumbled from his spot in front of a computer. He had set the skin sample on a scanner and the other chunks on another scanner to be looked upon closer. As he waited for the results he happen to look in Iris' direction and see the not-too-kind face of hers boring over his. "Why are _you_ mad at me?" he was afraid to ask. How many people had he managed to piss off in the span of two days?

"You were supposed to meet me at Jitters to give me some last scientific background for my article," Iris hardened her look on him, intending on making him feel guilty. She had waited for an hour at Jitters before deciding Barry had completely forgotten about her.

It all clicked in Barry's mind his promise to her, "And I didn't show up," he hung his head.

"And now I have to come up with a new article topic in 24 hours or I fail the assignment."

"Iris-"

Iris was not up for another apology - she had plenty of those already, "Don't say you're sorry," she snapped, motioning with a hand for him to stop talking. She reached for one of the sugar packets on the table and started ripping it open for her coffee, "Okay, I know that you are. What I don't know is what is going on with you. We grew up one bedroom down from each other. Do you honestly think that I don't know when you're happy? Or sad or depressed or lost? I'm gonna ask you one last time, Barry Allen, and you better be honest with me. What the—"

Frustrated, Barry sped all around Iris, going too far so that Iris was left frozen in a middle of second. "You want to know what's happening. I'm fast now. God, I just want to tell you," he vented out his frustration that absolutely no one but her would understand, "How it all makes me feel! But I can't! Because then I would be breaking my promise to Joe and you could get hurt!"

Barry returned to his spot, letting time tick on as normal and watched Iris finish her question, "-hell is going on with you?" she arched an eyebrow at him. Behind Barry beeped his computer, alerting him his scans were finished. Iris groaned as Barry turned to read the results, warning him, "We are not done talking about this."

As Barry gathered the results, Iris came to stand beside him and noticed the confusion spreading across his features, "What is it?"

"There was a murder last night. These skin cells belong to the murderer, but these cells are naive. Stem cells that they can replicate and become any cell the body needs. They only come from babies," Barry clicked to the next page having the results of the chunks in the other evidence bag, "And these pieces of 'gunk' aren't gunk, but...derivatives...from…play doh?" even saying the word out loud sounded ridiculous.

Iris scratched her head, "So...your killer is a newborn that plays play-doh?" there's a sentence I never thought would come out of my mouth, she thought.

It was one of those moments Barry wished he could tell her what the results really meant: the criminal(s) were metahumans. But, keeping his word, he gave only a shrug to show his confusion and moved on.

~ 0 ~

Belén was sitting on her bed, cross legged, sifting through the web on her laptop when her young nephew, Axel, bustled in giggling.

"Auntie Belén! Auntie Belén!" the boy slammed his hands on the edge of her bed, flashing a grin at the woman.

Though confused with the presence of Axel, she smiled and reached down to put him on her lap, "Hi there, Axel, what are you doing here?"

Axel giggled again, covering his mouth with one hand, "I'm playing hide-and-seek with my Mommy."

Belén turned her attention to her laptop that had a page open on an several abstracts of the 'red streak' of Central City. Having gotten frustrated the mysterious streak hadn't made official contact with her anymore, she was doing the job herself of finding him.

When she heard someone clearing their throat by her doorway, Belén quickly shut her laptop and glanced to see her sister, Maritza, leaning on the threshold.

"I hope you weren't watching any inappropriate with my son in front of the screen?" Maritza playfully said, leaning off and walking in.

"No, no, nothing like that, promise," Belén flashed her a smile and discreetly pushed her laptop to the other side of the bed.

"No, you were supposed to wait!" Axel groaned and pushed himself off the bed, running right past his mother to the hallway.

"Is there any reason you've visited? I don't think I'm missing some family dinner, am I?" Belén made a mental relay of any plans she knew of, and none of them consisted of a family dinner.

"Alright, Belén, I'm not going to play baby with you like mom and dad are," Maritza took a long sigh which gave Belén the opportunity to sarcastically remark.

"Oh no, I was so looking forwards to that," she leaned back on her headboard, arching an eyebrow, "Please don't tell me you're here on behalf of dear old mother?"

"Belén, you need to let this resentment of our mother go," Maritza sternly told her sister. Belén rolled her eyes, "I mean it. It has been so many years since they divorced-"

"You think I resent her because she _divorced_ Dad?" Belén scoffed, almost indignant of being perceived as that type of person. "I get that they didn't work, I don't hold that over her nor Dad. Each deserve to find their happiness and it just so happened it wasn't with each other. Honestly, the idea that you would think that of me-"

"Well you don't give a lot go by here," Maritza snapped, "You never tell us anything about that. The only thing you do when we mention Mom is make this face and start muttering things. What are we supposed to think?"

"You could try this thing where you actually _ask_ what's wrong," Belén said with a hint of tears in her eyes, "Instead of just thinking things about me - assuming everything. You know it's because of Mom that I quit my dancing-"

"That wasn't a real career, Bel-"

"Can we not!?" Belén almost shouted, her frustration still raw despite the fiasco of her career change being years ago. "Mom said everything you're gonna say years ago. That was my dream...and she cut me off midway, sticking me in journalism."

"But you love that now," Maritza gestured to the laptop sitting on Belén's bed.

"Yes, but you and I both know that had it not been for Mom, I would be swinging on silk right now doing what I dreamed of," Belén crossed her arms. "So you can go ahead and tell Mom that her little plans for me are off."

"She doesn't want you to forget about Rayan, she just wants to prevent you from falling into depression-"

"I will not fall into depression. I am not depressed. I am _angry_ ," Belén slowly enunciated the last word, "I am angry that the police is giving up on the case. I am angry that Dad is all too easily letting it go. I am angry that Mom thinks she can snatch me out of my city and force me to forget that my twin brother is out there."

"But that's just the thing...we don't know that he's still out there," Maritza whispered sadly, "The chances of him being alive after all this time is…"

"Unlikely, I know, but not impossible," Belén said, a hopeful expression settling over her face, "Maritza, you have to believe me. You have to help me. Rayan isn't dead, it doesn't make sense okay? He is out there, and he's-"

"Oh no, Belén," Maritza shook her hand, turning away to leave then.

"Maritza, stop!" Belén called out for her sister. "You have to believe me-"

"It's impossible," Maritza shot back, stopping by the doorway to look back.

"No, it's not," Belén insisted, "Haven't you seen those reports of the Red Streak around the city? What we thought is impossible is not. And a couple weeks ago, when I was coming home, there was this flash of wind and-"

"You have got to take a rest!" Maritza almost shouted, feeling guilty only seconds later when she saw the look of hurt on Belén's face, close to tears, "Belén, I love you, but there is nothing out there except lunatic bloggers looking for naive readers. I am not asking you to forget about Rayan - I would like you to move on with your life. You're young, you're beautiful and you're about to graduate. Focus on that. You don't have to leave with Mom but you do have to stop all this nonsense."

Belén swallowed a lump down her throat, her voice meek as she said, "If you would just listen to what happened to me…"

"Get some rest, Belén," Maritza softly instructed, "I'll talk to Mom and Dad downstairs and make them see coming back to Starling City wouldn't be a good idea. But that's all I can do for you," with that, Maritza walked out and closed the door.

Minutes later, Belén slumped back against her headboard and her angry, hot tears turned into sobs.

~ 0 ~

Barry groaned as Caitlin dabbed a cotton swab with alcohol over his cheek with a bruise. He had finally met the criminal responsible for the latest robberies and pretty much lost. But in his defence, he was outnumbered by a decent amount.

"Sorry," Caitlin winced with each contact she made with his face, knowing the sting was awful, "The abrasions are already rapidly healing."

"Yeah, I got my ass handed to me," Barry sighed, not very surprised with the results. The man was able to replicate himself and all he could do was just run fast.

Cisco was working on getting the super suit cleaned up across the room and was disappointed on finding blotches of blood over it. "You got blood on my suit."

Barry glanced back at him, "I think some of it belongs to him. Another not-so-friendly meta-human. Danton Black. "

Caitlin put down the swab after finishing and walked back to the computer where Wells had brought up information over the newest metahuman. "He's a bio-geneticist specialized in therapeutic cloning. Growing new organs to replace failing ones. Apparently Stagg stole his research and then fired him."

"I saw Black create duplicates from his own body," Barry remembered perfectly.

"That's pretty ironic," Cisco stopped working momentarily, "The guy specialized in cloning and now he can make xeroxes of himself."

"If he was experimenting on himself when he was exposed to the dark matter wave released by the particle accelerator explosion—" Wells began to consider the idea but Cisco had something important to say.

"Meet Captain clone," he grinned, "Don't worry. I'll come up with something cooler."

Barry had started for the doors when Caitlin called out, "Where are you going?"

"Joe was right," Barry sighed, turning around to them, "I'm in way over my head. Yeah, I'm fast, but I am no warrior. Man, I could barely fight one meta-human, let alone six."

"Barry. I understand. Today was a setback," Wells said, "But any grand enterprise has them. And we can never learn to fly without crashing a few times.

"This wasn't a grand enterprise, Dr. Wells. This was a mistake," Barry declared and took leave, ignoring any others persistence from the trio. What was the point in trying to help people if he couldn't take down one metahuman? The first difficult one, and he couldn't do it? Was he really cut out to be some sort of hero?

~ 0 ~

Out in Central City park was Belén sitting on the bench facing the small shrine of her brother's against the fountain. With the recent news of the findings and the case being shut down people had dropped by more trinkets and candles in honor of Rayan. If it wasn't for the sake of politeness, Belén would have tore away all the trinkets of the shrine because she knew he was still alive. But of course no one would believe her, so the shrine remained unharmed.

Not too far away, Barry came to a stop after speeding in from Jitters. He had a feeling Belén would be there and once again he was right. He needed to have a word with her, though now that he thought more he realized perhaps the talk would be more efficient if it were in the super suit than regular ole him. After having a small dinner with Iris at Jitters, he came to the horrific discovery Iris had changed her topic to that of the 'red streak' and would be looking far more into that than anything. Immediately afterwards, Barry sought to look for Belén and find a way to keep her quiet about the mystery helper she had acquired. For the moment, he would have to makeshift a conversation with her to see if she mentioned anything to anyone...though it would be tricky due to him not supposed to know she even had a helper in the first place.

As he neared her, he caught the faint sounds of sniffles and realized she was crying. Rather awkwardly, he approached her from beside the bench, clearing his throat to make his presence known to her.

Immediately Belén straightened up and sniffled in deeply, "Barry…" she felt embarrassed he'd once again caught her in such a bad time full of tears and despair, "What are you doing here?"

"Just...around," Barry knew that was yet another lie sooner or later Belén would come to realize if he didn't come up with anything better soon. Her quiet demeanor warned him to be careful with what he said or did next. "And you? You're…?"

Belén nodded to her brother's shrine ahead, "Right now, this is the only place where I can get some peace."

"Yeah, Iris did mention you were having problems at home."

Belén loudly scoffed, getting up from the bench, "That's an understatement. Everyone is so...against me," her tears welled in her eyes, "My own family is against me. I feel so...alone."

"I know the feeling all too well," Barry gave a light sigh. Whether it was his issues with his family, or being a brand new metahuman, he didn't feel like anyone really understood him. He has friends, he had an adoptive family, but he felt alone.

Belén felt ashamed of dropping such a melancholy story with him. She took a breath and looked at him with a plastered smile, "Did you need something? I don't know where Iris is."

"No, um, I was, um...walking," Barry threw a thumb over his shoulder.

"And you saw the crying girl," Belén wiped her face, having herself a bitter chuckle, "Totally not embarrassing."

"You're having a bad time, there's nothing embarrassing about that," Barry sternly told her, "Your brother's case was closed, it's a natural response to be sad and...cry…"

"It seems like I'm the only one that's acting like this," Belén muttered, crossing her arms, "Do you know, my parents and sister are so unfazed. They're acting like nothing happened. Like we didn't just lose someone of our family. They don't want to keep looking, they don't want to help."

Barry knew he was inching closer to the topic he really wanted to talk about. Discreetly, he pressed for further words, "And...what exactly are you doing to help for the case?"

Belén sighed, "You know, basic stuff for a journalist. I've been revisiting some of the evidence and just following up on places Rayan used to go to."

"That must be hard work for just one person…"

Belén's eyes flickered to their immediate area, considering doing something rash. She didn't know why him, but she felt like she could trust him. She turned to him with a secretive look, "Well, not entirely alone. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Well," Barry took a sarcastic breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "you only did help take care of me in my coma and spent a lot of time at STAR Labs because of me so...I guess I owe you a favor."

Belén laughed, startling Barry with how different she sounded when she was actually...happy. Although it was short and of a simple thing, it gave a great satisfaction in the metahuman. And it almost made him want to find other ways to repeat.

"Do you know about the red streak?" Belén asked quietly, stepping closer to him for cautionary measures.

"Yeah," Barry nodded, "Iris told me a lot about it."

"For her blog about it, yeah," Belén sighed, "I feel so bad I haven't told her that the red streak kind of made contact with me a couple days ago."

"He did?" Barry tried not to seem as relieved as he was after hearing Belén hadn't yet told Iris anything.

"Mhm, just a couple of blocks from home. I don't know how, but the red streak knows I'm looking for my brother, and I don't know why but they're going to help me," Belén shrugged, looking just as curious and awed as she did the first night. "And I haven't really told anyone because...I don't want to seem like I finally lost my mind, and because I don't want to be harassed by other journalists."

"Does that include Iris?"

"Unfortunately, yes. If she posts that I know the red streak it'll just cause chaos. I want to keep this a secret."

"Why did you tell me, then?" Barry, truthfully, was curious of this particular choice.

Belén sheepishly looked away, "I don't know, I like you and...maybe you can help me too?"

"Am I being used here?" Barry feigned offense and even put a hand on his chest for dramatic effect.

"No!" Belén exclaimed quickly, acquiring her fast talking skills, one that Barry hadn't seen anymore since he fell under the coma. "Oh God no! I didn't mean to - I didn't want to insinuate...I just thought that maybe you could help me since you know a lot more about the police things than I do. But if you don't want to then that's okay and I'm - I'm sorry and-"

"I was only kidding Belén," Barry laughed softly at the woman who blushed of embarrassment. "But it's good to see you talking like that again," although it didn't look like Belén agreed as she was embarrassed. "Bells, it's fine. And you can count on me for anything you need."

That caused a wave of joy and relief to wash over Belén's face. "Oh my God, thank you!" in her excitement, she jumped forwards and encased Barry in a hug.

Barry laughed and gently pulled away from the woman, feeling his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket. "It's not a big deal, honestly. I work with the police, it's a little thing."

Belén's smiled turned soft, "Sometimes, it's the little things that can truly make a difference in someone's life. Thank you."

Barry was touched to hear her say those words, but his phone's incessant vibrating grabbed his attention. He excused himself from Belén for a minute, seeing Caitlin's name on the phone's screen he prepared to repeat his 'I'm done' speech. However, after getting a rather urgent call for help he couldn't resist from speeding to STAR Labs. Thankfully, Belén had been preoccupied with her brother's shrine to pay attention to him leaving.

When Barry arrived at the labs, he blocked the way to Caitlin and Cisco from...Danton Black. But before he could throw a punch or anything, Caitlin started explaining.

"Barry, it's okay. It is not okay. It's one of his replicates!"

Stunned, and confused, Barry turned around to his two friends, "How did you get it?"

"I grew him," Caitlin reolied I isolated a sample of Black's blood from you suit to see if I could trigger the in vitro cultivation process and learn how Black multiplies. So I exposed the target cells to a protein gel, and they began replicating... Into that," she gestured to the current clone.

Barry glanced at the motionless clone, "Why isn't he - it doing anything?"

Wells moved towards them from the computers, "We did a brain scan. Involuntary motor functions are active, little else."

"We think it's acting as a receiver," Cisco said, "The clones are an empty shell without Black. Shut down the real Black, and you might shut them all down."

"But how do we know which one's the real Danton Black?" asked Barry, still only mildly convinced.

"That occurred to me given your own passing out," Caitlin smiled, "Black has limits, just like you. Controlling all of those clones must require a tremendous amount of physical strength. So, look for the one showing signs of weakness or fatigue. He's the prime."

"Just a theory... But one you might want to put to the test, Mr. Allen," Wells said slowly, still giving Barry am encouraging look.

Cisco whipped out two granola-looking bar and held it for Barry. "Plus, I whipped up these high- calorie protein bars for you to keep your metabolism up."

Before Barry could say a word, the Danton clone sprang to life but was immediately shot from behind. As it fell to the floor, Joe slowly walking into the room with his gun aimed.

"Any more of them?"

"Nope," Caitlin made a face, sad to see her creation go down.

"Why did it start moving?" Barry, alarmed, looked at the others for an answer.

"The prime. My guess is, the prime is on the move," Dr. Wells replied. "This one heard the summons to battle."

"And I know where he was summoned to," Joe called, "Stagg Industries."

"You should call it in," Barry gestured, but Joe shook his head.

"Police can't fight this. What Black's become, like Mardon... Beyond me," he sighed. "Maybe way beyond

them, too. The only person it's not beyond is you. You gotta do this. I get it. So for once in your life, do what I tell you to do. Go stop him. Just get me those figures by morning, okay?"

Barry exchanged smiles with the man, his confidence boosting within seconds.

~ 0 ~

When Belén walked in through the front door of her home, she wasn't surprised to find her mother and father conversing by the living room, her mother holding the handle of her suitcase on the side. Her presence made both turn to her, each wearing those sympathetic smiles Belén hated to see from them. It was like they had pity for her, and they shouldn't. She was completely fine - she just wanted her brother back.

"I was just leaving, honey," her mother, Veronica, declared and walked to Belen, wheeling her suitcase behind. "And don't worry, I have completely given up on taking you back to Starling with me."

Belén could honestly sigh in relief at that. "Well, I thank you for that."

Veronica nodded, happy to see she was at least going to leave on a somewhat lighter note. "But please, if you ever need anything from me, give me a call?"

Belén arched an eyebrow, seeing her father from behind giving her a pointed to look telling her to be polite. "Fine," she resigned to answer.

Veronica kissed her head and grabbed her suitcase handle again. "Well, I should be making that train, then. I expired all my vacation time at the police station," she chuckled and went for the doors.

"Come by any time," Belén's father, David, came up behind Belén to bid goodbye to the woman.

"Mom," Belén called, stopping Veronica by the door. Veronica glanced back questioningly, and Belén nervously requested, "Can you say to 'hi' to Laurel for me? You were right, I...haven't spoken to her in a while."

Veronica warmly smiled and nodded. "Of course, sweetheart." Belén matched her mother's smile with a dimmer one but it was still the first one in a long time that wasn't sarcastic nor bitter.

When Veronica left, Belén made it her duty to alert her father, "You know I'm still going to keep looking for Rayan, right?" she made way for the kitchen.

David groaned and followed after his daughter. "Belén, please, don't bother yourself with the case."

Belén shook her head. "Dad, you realize you are essentially asking me to forget that your son, my brother, is missing?" She went straight for the fridge and opened it up, searching for something to drink.

"Belén, it hurts, I know it does, but sometimes it's best to move on," David sighed, "Not for them, but for us. Rayan is dead, and it hurts immensely, but that is the truth."

Belén closed the door of the fridge and turned to her father, pulling the cap off a lemonade bottle. "Dad, if you would just-"

"No, Belén," David waggled a finger at her, "I don't want to hear more of this. You are going to focus on finishing up your credits to graduate and then to becoming a wonderful journalist. Am I clear?"

Belén nodded silently, letting him leave in a somewhat calmer mood. She took a drink from her bottle and leaned back on the fridge. "Hm," she arched an eyebrow as an idea came to her. "I'm done sitting and waiting - I'm going to get ahold of you, red streak," with a smirk, she walked out of the kitchen.

~ 0 ~

Across the street from Stagg offices, Plasticine stood on the rooftop of a building intently watching the ongoing fight between the 'Red Streak' and Danton Black. Even though Danton had created a swarm of clones, the Red Streak had managed to isolate the prime and weaken him until the clones all fell unconscious. Somehow, Danton had crashed through the window of a room and nearly fell down if it weren't for the Red Streak helping him. But even then, the help given was not enough to stop Danton from falling to his death.

Plasticine put a black boot on the ledge of the building to peer down at the dead man on the street. "Hm," she tilted her head, "You should have listened." She gave out the useless advice now.

Her eyes raised to the Red Streak across her, still looking down at the dead man. "Now who are _you_...?"

~ 0 ~

The next day, Barry and Joe were having lunch together - with a couple stacked pizza boxes thanks to Barry's new metabolism - in Barry's lab. The two had patched things up after their nasty fight in concerns of Barry's new vigilante job and were now focused on solving the murder of Barry's mother with the actual culprit. As the two conversed over the clues they already had from the past, they heard an awkward clearing of throat from the doorway.

"Belén," Barry stood up from the table in surprise.

Belén blushed in embarrassment as she knew she had probably intruded on a nice lunch between the two men. "Sorry, sorry…" she slowly walked in. "I shouldn't have come in but then again this is kind of the only time I can for today because I have work and then I have to go to school later and my night is going to be - hopefully - filled up as well and-"

"Don't you need to breathe?" Joe cut her off, amusedly watching her.

Belén blushed deeper, nodding her head. "I tend to do that a lot." She sheepishly looked to Barry. "Can we talk, please? I won't be long I promise. I'm on a lunch break too, so…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't worry," Barry glanced at Joe, silently asking for a moment.

Joe understood it and raised his hands, motioning he would leave. "I'll be back," he announced and walked past Belen.

"Again, I didn't mean to intrude," Belén apologized as she came up to the table where the two had been having lunch. "But like I said, my day's a bit full and…" she trailed off upon seeing the pinboard of Barry's mother's murder case facing them, "...oh…"

"U-uh…" Barry panicked and hurried to go hide that again, not that it would matter anyways. "Sorry, we were-"

"Doing exactly what I want to do with my brother's case," Belén said quietly, lightly smiling his way. "If you feel the need to cover it up, then do so. But I'm glad you're still trying to find out who really killed her."

"You know about that?" Barry made a face, temporarily forgetting of Iris' connection to her.

"Well, Iris mentioned to me that you thought your father wasn't the real culprit-"

"Because he's _not_ ," Barry accidentally, aggressively, cut her off. "He's not. It was a man in a yellow suit."

Belén didn't get upset by the gesture and simply nodded. "I believe that. I guess this is why you were so open to helping me with Rayan's case, huh?"

"Well…" Barry felt slightly guilty for his earlier outburst, seeing how kindly she was taking it.

"I just came in to see if you had anything on that case," Belén finally explained. "I was planning on meeting with the Red Streak tonight and I wanted to come up with something myself."

"You're going to see him…?" Barry tilted his head, racking his mind to see if he had accidentally made contact with her again.

"Well, I'm hoping," Belén clarified and unknowingly relaxed Barry. "See, I left him this little thing at my brother's altar at the park. I'm hoping that if he's walking by, in his normal identity, he might catch it and come." As Barry continued to stare at her she blushed and looked down. "I know, it's stupid. I plucked it out of TV, if I'm being honest. I'm just desperate." She heard her cellphone ringing from her bag and dug a hand inside to pull it out. Seeing it was Linda calling her she sighed and looked at Barry again. "I'm running a little late now. Do you have anything?"

Barry shook his head. "No, I'm sorry…" He had been too busy dealing with Danton Black to remember anything else.

Belén sighed. "Well, thanks anyways. Sorry for interrupting the lunch, I need to get back to work."

Barry nodded, sadly watching her leave. He now felt her saddened attitude was because of him, and thus he felt he needed to fix that. A short moment after Belen had left, Joe returned to the lab.

"What was that all about?" he promptly asked, having seen Belen glumly leaving the station.

Barry cheekily smiled at the man. "Hey Joe, how complicated would it be to get my hands on Rayan's Palayta's case file?"

Joe raised his eyebrows questioningly and crossed his arms, getting that 'what are you up to' face rather quick. "Why?"

"Because the Red Streak is going to see someone special tonight and he can't come up with empty hands, can he?"

Joe tilted his head, his expressions turning to surprise yet warningly as well. "Barry Allen, what are you thinking? That girl is literally inches from discovering who you are. Need I remind you she is close to Iris who cannot know who you are?"

"I hear you, I hear you," Barry raised his hands, chuckling, "But I would like to help the girl who helped me without even knowing me. Is that such a bad thing to do?"

"Barry," Joe said in his reprimanding way.

"Joe, please?" Barry got serious fast. "I promised her, as this new vigilante, that I would help her. And as her new friend, I would really like to keep that. Please, can you help me?"

~ 0 ~

Late in the night, Belén sat on the park bench across the fountain where her brother's altar was. She was wrapped up in a black coat to get her through the feisty winds the night had brought on. Occasionally, she would pull her phone from her pocket to check the time, hoping that it would be the last time because the Red Streak finally made an appearance. However, when it came to be past midnight, she resigned to leave and hopefully sneak past her father who had no idea she wasn't even in her room. She had snuck out from the balcony of her bedroom and made a run for the park. God, she felt like a child.

But she was becoming weary of the day and knew that if she didn't get up and go home, she would risk falling asleep on the bench.

With a disappointed sigh, she pulled herself to her feet and started walking away. Only a couple steps afterwards, she felt an unexpected wind blow her hair back. For the first couple of seconds, Belén stayed the way she was, swallowing nervously as her heart raced.

"It's a bit late for you to be out alone don't you think?" came the modulated-voiced of the 'Red Streak'.

A wide smile broke across Belén's face instantly but she pushed it away after a minute in order to face the vigilante. She slowly turned around, lightly gasping at the sight of the red-suited man, because she was sure now he was a man. "Well, it's a good thing you're out here then, right?" she replied, sounding in awe as much as her gaze portrayed. She was trying to differentiate his features but in the dark and with his mask on, she couldn't do it.

"Next time you want to talk to me, don't choose a late hour, please," Barry almost pleaded from her. He didn't like the idea of her lonesome self waiting out in the park.

A smirk worked at the corner of Belén face as she stepped forwards. "Well, maybe next time don't leave me hanging for days."

"Fair enough," Barry nodded. "I'm sorry for that, by the way."

Belén disregarded the apology in favor of her curiosity. "Why did you decide to help me? I mean, I know you're helping a lot of people but they're ordinary people in trouble. Why help me specifically? You don't even know who I am."

"Belén Palayta, twenty three, half Mexican, half Italian, college senior, misunderstands science a lot, technically the youngest of your family, and holding an internship at CC Picture News," Barry recited much to Belén's shock.

Although the 'misunderstands science a lot' bit really startled her, Belén smiled. "You looked me up?"

"Partly, yes...and the other I got it from this," Barry held the file of Belén brother's case in his hand.

"You got the file?" Belén blinked, assuming that was the reason Barry couldn't find anything earlier.

"I went over it, and I think a metahuman is responsible for the disappearance," Barry said, carefully watching Belén as she walked towards him. He couldn't rely on the dark to keep his identity fully concealed.

"What exactly is a...metahuman?" Belén curiously asked, stopping not too far from him.

"People who have acquired powers from the STAR Labs explosion-"

"Like you?" Belén feebly asked, inching nearer to him. Too much in awe to stop herself, she reached to touch his face but Barry caught her hand and shook his head at her. "Sorry…" she apologized and stepped away, reprimanding herself for her imprudent action. She couldn't stop herself from smiling, however, as she laid eyes on him again. "I'm just really excited to have someone actually want to help me. You, out of all people, believe me."

Barry nodded, understanding what it meant to have someone out there, believing the story no one else would. "I'm going to continue searching for more details," he promised her. "In the meantime, you can take a look at the file and get more information. But-" he suddenly went grim, "-under _no_ circumstances do I want you putting yourself in any danger. That is my only condition and I want you to follow it."

Belén quickly nodded. "Got it! No danger! I promise," she chuckled.

Barry smiled at her. "You should smile more often, you know. It looks good on you."

Shyly, Belén tucked some hair behind her ear. "You should keep helping people, it suits you."

Barry chuckled. "Thank you. Now please, take this-" he motioned to the file he still held, "-and get home."

Belén reached for the file and held it to her chest. "Thank you. But, before you leave, tell me how do I contact you again?"

Barry glanced towards the altar at the fountain, seeing the little lightning bolt pin Belén had stuck on it. "Do what you did this time. I promise you I'll see it."

Belén smiled and nodded. "Okay." She turned to leave, making it only a few steps away when she felt arms wrap around her followed by the intense rapidness of traveling.

Next thing she knew she was standing outside her front door. She turned and saw the 'Red Streak' at the sidwalk, smiling at her. "Thank you for that," she quietly said, for the sake of the time and her pending sneaking in.

"I wasn't going to let you walk on your own," Barry replied, waving with one hand before speeding away.

Feeling far more content with herself, as well as a couple butterflies here and there, Belén unlocked the door and quietly stepped into her home, for the first time that day feeling relieved. Someone was going to help her.


	4. All is a Secret

Belén and Iris made their way out of the theater and walked down a crowded street, contently munching on their leftover popcorn. Iris had opted for a very much needed girl's night out. She thought Belén would need all the excuses she could take just to be out the house.

"Maybe on Friday we could watch the premier of..." Iris trailed off when Belén stopped walking so suddenly. The woman had grown pale too. "Belén? Belén? What is it?"

Belén swallowed hard, hoping to God it would pass soon and she could excuse it with something plausible. Iris grew more concerned and helped Belén towards a wall so that the woman could rest for a bit.

"Should I call a doctor?" she asked when she saw no progress in Belén's condition. "Your Dad?"

"No, no," Belén waved a hand, her eyes shut for the moment. "I'm, uh, it's...it's passing, yeah…"

Iris scowled at such a lame lie thrown her way. "Annah-Belén Palayta, are you trying to lie directly to my face? You know how I feel about that." She sighed and dropped her popcorn to the ground so that she could help Belén walk again. "Maybe we should get you home. Let's call a cab?"

"I think…" Belén felt famished despite the fact they'd eaten plenty before entering the theater. "...Can we go to Nina's please? She's a doctor, and...and I don't want to worry my Dad. Please, Iris?"

Iris just wanted her friend to get better, so she agreed without another word. This wasn't the first time she noticed Belén's health suddenly decline, and she hadn't yet brought it up with Belén. Perhaps that had been wrong of her - she didn't want anything to happen to Belén just because she didn't bring it up. She was the only friend Iris really had!

~ 0 ~

Later that evening, David Palayta received the abrupt news Belén would be staying with Nina for the night. Iris had been left with the false illusion Belén was better and would be returning home after a nice cup of coffee with Nina. But as soon as Iris left, Nina got straight to work with the medical exams again. Belén laid in the guest room of Nina's apartment, sitting upright on the bed with a weary look on her face. It was ridiculous how tired she felt when today had been so calm and easy.

"It's the same thing again," Nina sighed when she came into the room, holding Belén's green milkshake in hand. "Sugar levels are dangerously low."

Belén no longer felt worried over that. She merely took her milkshake and drank down its disgusting contents. Nina walked over to the window, about to close the curtain when Belén called out.

"Don't! Leave it like that please?"

With a sigh, Nina nodded and left the room. Belén reached out for her phone on the nightstand and looked at the time. It was almost midnight.

 _He_ would most certainly be there already...and she wouldn't be there tonight. What would he think of her, then? A flake? An irresponsible? Surely he had better things to do than help a girl out.

Belén sighed to herself. "Please don't be mad with me," she pleaded in a whisper.

~ 0 ~

Iris was bringing a tray of dirty dishes back to the counter when she saw Barry coming into Jitters. "Hey," she greeted as she left the tray back.

"Hey," Barry greeted politely, eyes briefly looking around to hopefully see someone by. "Um, listen..." he began after seeing no one was around, "I was wondering if you...know anything about Belén?"

"Belén? Like what, exactly?"

"Em…" Barry stuffed his hands into his pockets, knowing he was going to fail miserably in trying to seem normal, "...like, uh...if she's okay?"

Iris sighed as she remembered her last encounter with Belén - three days ago at the movies - and shook her head. "I honestly don't know anymore."

Barry was just as concerned as she was, but he couldn't tell her it sprung from the fact Belén had missed their 'secret appointment' at the city park late at night three days ago. It had become a custom for them to meet each other - he as the 'Red Streak' - to consult about Rayan's case. Belén had never once missed the date. She was always the first one. And suddenly she misses one without so much a note at the fountain's altar for an explanation. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't heard a single word from her afterwards, as the regular friends they were.

"You want to know something weird?" Iris suddenly asked, breaking Barry's inside thinking. "Bells and I were at the movies three days ago. We were having fun, we ate and saw a good movie...and when we were leaving...she got dizzy or something."

"Dizzy?" Barry frowned. "Did you take her to a doctor?"

"We went to Nina's," Iris sighed. "Nina gave her some type of medicine and she told me Bells would be fine. That's the last thing I heard since that night."

"And you haven't called her or anything?" Barry inquired. "Visited maybe?"

"No, I've been a bit busy myself right now. I'm trying to find a way to tell my Dad about Eddie and I, so…" Iris made a motion, signalling the trouble she was going through as well.

"Got it," Barry nodded, understanding her. He was about to ask how _she_ was doing, considering they hadn't really spoken much either, but his cellphone went off. Motioning to Iris he'd be a moment, he walked to the side and took the call.

There was a new crime scene and he was needed right away.

~ 0 ~

A little restaurant not too far from where Belén and Iris had gone to the movies, was the center location for the murder scene of a crime family. The entire place had been blocked off from the public's eye and while several police officers looked about for anything that would tell them about the criminals, Barry attended to the corpses lying at different locations from the grand dinner table the family had been going to use.

Although, he probably would be a little more focused if he didn't repeatedly find himself distracted with his honey-haired friend. He didn't even realize Joe had come up to him asking for any details on the corpses until he was gently nudged with a shoe on his leg.

"S-sorry, what?" Barry blinked and looked up, finding a half concerned half irritated Joe looking down at him.

"I was asking if there was anything new," Joe repeated himself for the last time.

"U-uh…" Barry quickly ransacked his mind for the last professional thoughts he had before his mind had gotten away from him. "Well, there was, um...there are signs of histotoxic hypoxia. The cells in their bodies were unable to utilize oxygen. It's consistent with exposure to poison gas."

"What kind of poison?" Joe wondered.

Barry got up to his feet and sighed as he looked to the other corpses. "I'll need to take a lung sample, see if I can narrow it down."

Eddie joined the two after having met with witnesses. "The only other exit was bolted from the inside. They were trapped. I was thinking someone pumped gas in from the outside, but witnesses say the street was empty."

"So it was from the inside," Joe concluded, already taking extra looks around them for anything suspicious. "That means there should be a canister or a container left behind. The gas just didn't come in by itself."

Barry, meanwhile, had begun making deductions based off the way the corpses had landed to their current positions. Without thinking, he added, "Unless it had a mind of its own."

Joe immediately understood the implication and quickly resorted to have Eddie leave. "Eddie, would you mind canvassing again? Somebody had to have seen something suspicious." Eddie nodded and went on his way to repeat his task. Joe then turned back to Barry. "Okay, explain."

Barry nodded and did just that. "The boss collapsed by the table," he pointed to the nearest corpse just beside the table. "This guy made it 10 feet away," he gestured to the corpse closest to the front window - presumably having shot at the window three times to no avail - with a gun lying beside him. "That guy had a chance to move off and fire three shots into the window trying to break the glass. But they all started in the same spot, which means they should have all been affected by the gas at the same time, but instead, it's as if…"

"They were attacked one by one," Joe saw where he was going. "My gut feeling, if we're gonna solve this one, you and me are gonna need... Backup."

"Yeah," Barry agreed, but judging by the face he had on Joe realized there was something else on his mind.

"What is it?" he asked wearily.

"It's just...do you think I could make a pit stop first?" Barry innocently smiled. "...for about an hour?"

"An hour?" Joe frowned. "Barry, need I remind you this is a case we need to solve fast? There could be a metahuman on the loose and you want to waste time?"

"It's not a waste of time, I promise," Barry pleaded. "It's very important, okay?"

"What could be more important than finding a metahuman who's out murdering people?" Joe demanded incredulously.

Barry sheepishly smiled when he realized how his answer would sound if he actually responded.

~ 0 ~

Linda Park was in the middle of typing a new article at her desk, occasionally looking out for the intern that was supposed to be getting her the notes she needed to _finish_ the actual article. She was most certainly not expecting a strange young man to walk into the place. By the way he curiously looked around, Linda knew for sure he had never visited before.

She got up from her chair and walked around her desk, coming down the small steps of the higher-level ground. "Can I help you?" she politely asked once she reached the stranger.

Barry felt like a complete idiot the way he knew he looked so lost. "U-um, y-yeah...actually, yeah."

Linda smiled, crossing her arms. "Were you looking for someone?"

"Yeah," Barry nodded, knowing that was the third time he had answered with the same word. "Do you know where I can find Belén Palayta?"

Linda's eyebrows quirked upwards, looking bemused all of a sudden. "You're Belén's…?"

"Barry?" came the familiar voice of the needed woman. Barry turned to see Belén coming out of a side room, holding Linda's notes in her hands.

"Bells," Barry brightened up when he saw her looking (at least physically) well, "Hey…"

"What are you doing here?" Belén joined him and Linda, handing the latter the files in the process.

"I, uh, I was...in the neighborhood," Barry began his excuse, seeing it was probably not a good idea to begin with 'since you failed too meet me while I was the Red Streak I got worried'.

"You were?" Belén tilted her head, confused. Though beside her Linda was smirking widely, wishing her friend could get a simple clue.

"Yeah," Barry cleared his throat, awkwardly glancing at Linda.

Belén followed his gaze and saw Linda. Nudging the dark-haired woman, Belén sarcastically said, "Linda, that article isn't going to write itself you know."

Linda rolled her eyes, knowing she was being politely asked to leave. "Yeah, yeah, I'm gone. See you later, Belén," she waved to the intern then looked to Barry, "and nice to meet you, Barry."

"Likewise," he shook her hand and let her go. Afterwards, he focused back on Belén who was curiously waiting for him. She didn't look sick, from what Iris told him. Her eyes were shining their special brown tinge, and her smile was genuine.

"Was there something you needed, Barry?" Belén's voice cut into his thoughts. "Though I doubt there's anything a journalist can do for a forensic scientist."

"Um," Barry nervously smiled, berating himself for not coming in with a plan - he looked like an even bigger dork than what Iris told him he was. "I...it's just been a while since we heard anything from you," he came up with in the end.

"You were worried," Belén realized, feeling a tad special about it.

"Well, a little-" but then Barry worried how that may have sounded and tried to clarify, "-though when I say 'a little' I don't actually mean 'a little'-" he gestured with his index finger and thumb, "-I meant the decent amount-"

Belén's laughter cut right through his words, making him awkwardly shift in place. "And here I thought _I_ was the motor mouth in this city."

"S-sorry," was all Barry could think of at the moment. He felt his face incredibly warm and that was never a good sign - especially near girls. Iris always teased him for blushing so easily, and always being so red!

"Oh c'mon," Belén sobered up and touched his arm, "I was only joking - absolutely no one can top me. I'm sure you heard what happened at the movies with Iris but I can assure you all I'm just fine.

"We just haven't heard from you, that's all," Barry tried again.

"Well, to be frank," Belén sighed, growing slightly serious, "I've been kind of getting the feel that you guys don't want me at Star Labs anymore."

"What? Why would you say that?" Barry asked, unable to awkwardly cough. He knew that was his fault for being unable to decide whether or not to tell Belén who he was.

"I can kind of tell when Cisco sputters as he tries to make up excuses on why we shouldn't meet at the lab," Belén crossed her arms. "I love that guy, but he sucks at lying."

"Look, Bells-"

"No, I totally get it," Belén waved a hand at him. "I'm kind of an idiot and I'm probably just in the way during your nerd talks."

"That's not it," Barry shook his head, but Belén gave him an earnest look.

"Then why?"

"Well…" Barry rubbed the side of his neck, seeing this was a lost cause that could only hurt Belén.

"It's fine, Barry," the blonde assured, turning to leave. "I get it, there's just some places where others don't belong. It's like…" she stopped and turned around, finding he had been following her and so she bumped into him. "Oh - well," she fixed her hair and smiled warmly, truly looking alright as she said she was, "It's like me barging into your lab to try and talk to you about science. Or, perhaps you coming in here," she chuckled at the irony, "and trying to talk to me about journalism."

"Technically, if I talk 'sciency'," Barry raised his fingers into quotation marks, making Belén laugh again, "I can probably come up with a decent article."

"Hmm," Belén feigned thoughts as she went to gather her things from a small desk. "If you want to put your money where your mouth is, I have the job."

"You do?" Barry blinked, unsure how to go about that.

"Mhm," Belén turned around, her bag's strap over her shoulder now, "You know Iris has this blog about the Red Streak and she knows diddly squat about the science part involved in all that. I'm sure you can help her more than I could."

Barry withheld the annoyed sigh threatening to escape through his lips. Iris continuing to write about him was an increasing problem for him and herself. Who knew what could happen to her if she kept at it?

"Listen Barry," Belén stepped closer to him, resting a hand on his arm, "I'm touched you came all the way over here just to see if I was okay. As you can see, I'm doing just fine. I guess with my brother's case, my job, my parents, my nearly-failing-biology-class, and my near graduation...I have a lot of things on my mind. It was nothing more than a burnout."

"Are you sure?" Barry softly asked her, looking for anything in her that would tell him she was lying.

"I'm sure," Belén nodded, retracting her hand from his arm. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go shop before I head to classes. My friend had the lovely idea to cast me in one of his final short plays so now I have to go and buy me some new clothes for the part."

Barry laughed, walking towards the doors with her. "Really? And what's the part?"

"Um, this 'geek' girl so…" Belén shrugged, "I have to go buy me some geek clothes, I guess. That should be fun considering I look horrible in the glasses and the flannels…" she quickly looked at him then, knowing the flannels were a part of his common attires, "...but on you they look good!"

"Thanks," Barry laughed, opening the door for her. "I'm sure you'll make an adorable nerd."

Belén glanced back at him, sporting a light blush on her cheeks. "Thank you."

The two shared a longer look before Barry felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Suddenly remembering he had somewhere else to be, he nervously smiled at Belén who was curiously looking at him...probably sensing something was off.

"I, uh...have to...uh…" Barry awkwardly had a thumb pointing over his shoulder, but for some reason the words were like a tongue twister, "...g-go...yeah...y-yeah, we, um, we…"

Belén's eyebrows raised, evidently amused by him. "You could say 'I have things to do' and just leave. I wouldn't be offended, Barry," she laughed.

"Bye Belén," Barry finally managed to say in one go and hurried off to Star Labs.

~ 0 ~

When Barry sped into Star Labs, everyone - even Joe - was in the cortex room attempting to discover more of the newest metahuman in the city. As soon as he stopped, Barry found himself bombarded with scoldings left to right about his tardiness. It didn't get any better when Joe let it slip the reason Barry was late because he had to go 'see a girl'. _As if it was just any girl I was seeing_ , thought Barry. _And it wasn't like that_ , he then told himself. He was just worried over Belén and he wanted to see if she was alright. Plus, Iris was worried too and as her brother it was his job to help her no matter what.

"It was necessary," Barry concluded to the others. And before there could be another comment made about it, he moved to the desk where Caitlin and Dr. Wells were at. "So, did we make any advances on the case?"

"We were really only making assumptions and other questions," Caitlin answered after a moment, looking at the others. "For example, how he's able to formulate the connection of the elements needed for the gas creation."

"Oh, and if it was just poisonous gas, or can he control all aerated substances?" Cisco added in, rather excited about the idea.

"So basically we have nothing," Joe declared and walked up to the desk, leaning an arm over it. "I did, however, mention the possibility of finding an adequate place to hold metahuman criminals. Iron Heights isn't ready for that kind of stuff."

"At which point I reminded the ones you've encountered so far are no longer with us," Dr. Wells smiled.

"Well, unless we're planning on executing every super criminal we stop, you geniuses are gonna have to come up with someplace else to hold them."

Cisco was more awed then. "A meta-human prison. Sweet."

"Until we figure a way to remove their powers," Wells added before anyone got other ideas.

After a moment of sober thinking, Cisco meekly reminded, "There is one place here that might hold them."

Caitlin's eyes widened, looking fearful. "You can't be serious. I mean, we haven't been down there since... it's cordoned off."

"Cisco is right," Wells interjected. "It could be modified to act as a makeshift prison."

"What could?" Joe inquired.

"It was where the Particle Accelerator was meant to work in," Wells explained, no one except Barry noticing the distant, over-fearful look on Caitlin's face. "It was meant to contain the chemicals and even stronger components. We could, theoretically, manipulate the area and convert it into different cells designed specifically for each metahuman's ability."

"That sounds good," Cisco shrugged.

"So then we should get down there to see what exactly we have to do."

"Yeah," Cisco agreed.

"Caitlin, let's go," Wells said but when Caitlin stayed silent he glanced at the brunette and called her again. "Caitlin. Caitlin. Did you hear me? We're going down to the accelerator ring."

Caitlin became flustered as she came out of her memories, wanting to push them away as far as possible for fear of breaking down over the death she was working so hard to move on from.

Barry saw that too and came to her aid. "Actually, Dr. Wells, I could use Caitlin's help identifying the poison gas."

Wells seemed to understand the conflict and let it go without another word of insistence. "Okay."

Barry looked to Caitlin, who was already shooting him 'thank you' looks. "If that's okay with you?" he asked her.

"Let's go," Caitlin nearly jumped out of her chair, not seeing the moment they were out of the building.

~ 0 ~

It was never a good feeling to come home and hear strange noises from your bedroom. The only thing that she was thankful for was that her son was not with her at the moment. Balling a fist and creating a sphere of purple mass, she started for the hallway. The noises were coming from her bedroom and she wasn't going to waste a minute bringing the intruder down.

 _You picked the wrong house to rob_ , she thought. She kicked the door open and got ready to fight. However, she was met with a completely different image of her 'intruder'.

A young man with light brown hair stood in front of a dressing table, his back to the owner of the house. "It's so different seeing your mask _off_ your face," he raised his head to meet her reflection on the mirror. "Why is it again that you prefer to wear it whenever you're with me?" He then raised the purple half-mask for her to see.

"That's not funny!" the woman stalked over and snatched her mask back. "And what the hell do you think you're doing in my house? My son could've been here, you idiot! Or worse, our sister or our dad could have stopped by."

"They wouldn't, I know their schedules," Rayan Palayta turned around with a smug smile, leaning against the dressing table.

"You know everything, don't you?"

"Maybe not everything but I know my sisters. Isn't that right...Maritza?"

Maritza Palayta had always hated when her younger siblings sassed her or used pointless sarcasm on her. "You need to quit playing games like these," she warned, pointing a finger at him. "You're dead to the city so you can't just show up here!"

"And you're getting to be a well known petty thief," Rayan countered.

Maritza walked to her closet and opened it up. "I know how to play the game, alright? I'm laying low for now."

"That would be a wise choice," Rayan nodded, pushing himself off the dressing table. "And you should probably hide that mask better. If I could find it then so can Axel or even Belén."

"Please," Maritza lightly scoffed, her words muffled as she was inside her closet putting away her mask. "I love Belén but right now she's not at her best."

"What's wrong with my sister?" Rayan demanded.

"She's still with the idea that you're not dead."

"Oh Belén," Rayan sighed. "I love her and I miss her so much but...she can't know about me. She can't know about either of us. If she...had turned like us...then things would be different."

"But the fact is that she's not," Maritza left it clear as she closed her closet doors. She turned around, looking firm. "And for that reason she can't know anything about us. All she should worry about is finishing college and focusing on her job. You don't go near her."

"I know that," Rayan argued. "It kills me but I know it's what's best."

"Now are you going to tell me the reason for your little visit?"

"Nostalgia, for the most part," Rayan admitted, truly missing his old life. But he knew that he couldn't go back anymore - he didn't want to. After everything he'd been forced to do by the gang of robbers he'd been kidnapped by, he didn't think he could face his family anymore. Plus, he had a score to settle with the culprit of all his misfortunes in the past months. "But I also think that I've found someone who could be like us."

Maritza studied her younger brother for a moment. "Eugh," she gagged, "How on Earth could you find some woman to still..." she shivered and Rayan laughed.

"I was making a run for food and we crossed paths," he shrugged. "Her name - well, what she goes by when she's out - is Pixel."

"Great, and?"

"I'm staying at her place now but the warehouse is still where we can operate freely."

Maritza rolled her eyes. "Okay, so while you came to give me that spectacular news, I have actually got something you might like."

"Let me hear it."

"Word has it that there's a new freak out there with incredible powers."

"Is it the one that controls gas?" Rayan asked, startling Maritza with the knowledge. "Sorry, I hacked into the records of the CCPD. It's fairly obvious judging by the poison evidence from the crime scene."

"Right," Maritza made a face. "Never mind that. So, you think I should reach him?"

"I don't like him," Rayan declared, confusing her more. "He's a right criminal and we don't need that in here."

Maritza scoffed loudly. "And what exactly are we, then? I've robbed countless stores and you? You slaughtered an entire band of criminals."

"We are _sophisticated_ , and we have only one goal. I don't want petty criminals that I can't control."

"But he-"

"I said no," Rayan shot her down again, and this time warned her to stay quiet. "Let him be. Just...keep an eye on our family. You know the drill. If you need me, you know how to find me."

"Right, the warehouse or your new little girlfriend's place?" Maritza stopped him by the bedroom door.

"I'll send you the address," Rayan assured and continued on his way out.

Maritza sighed deeply after he was gone. She looked at herself in the mirror and could no longer recognize herself. She didn't like who she was becoming but she felt like it was too late to do anything about it. Star Labs made her that way, and they would pay soon enough.

~ 0 ~

Back at the CCPD, Barry and Caitlin were patiently waiting in his lab for the results of an exam. Barry was sat at his computer desk, fiddling with a DNA model in his hands while Caitlin stood on the other side by the printer.

"Can I ask you something that you don't have to answer?" Barry finally gathered the courage to ask.

"My least favorite kind of question," Caitlin nervously smiled. "Shoot."

Barry put down the DNA model on his desk. "Ronnie. What was he like? You just never talk about him that much."

Caitlin looked down a minute, her nervous smile fading and exchanging for a split peaceful expression. "We met when we were working on the particle accelerator. He was the structural engineer. He liked to joke that he was basically a very high-priced plumber. We were very different. You might have noticed I can be a bit... Guarded." Barry made an innocent look, something that didn't go pass Caitlin. "Ronnie knew how to make me laugh. He used to say we were like fire and ice. He wasn't supposed to be there that night. He was just there for me. If he hadn't…"

The printer then beeped, signaling the results were ready. Caitlin nabbed the paper and took it over to the desk, reading it simultaneously. "This says that there was no residue of gas in the tissue, poisonous or otherwise."

"It must have evaporated," Barry assumed. "We'll need to get a fresh sample."

Caitlin's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she read more. "Wait, this can't be right," she put the paper down on the desk for Barry to see. "This says that there are two distinct strands of DNA inside the tissue. How did someone else's DNA get inside the victim's lungs?"

After a moment, Barry decided to configure the remnants of the discovered DNA in the computer. "I don't understand," he frowned. "There's no DNA match in the database.

Caitlin was still looking at the results, pretty much lost. "I don't understand. Why would a chemical attack leave behind another person's DNA inside the victim?"

Barry got to thinking and then offered, "What if the meta-human we're looking for doesn't control gas? What if he _becomes_ it?"

"Ooh," Caitlin's mouth formed a small 'o' at the idea. It certainly made sense. But that would definitely make it a more difficult battle to fight.

And it seemed like fate today was purposely contradicting her. The radio Barry had set on the desk for the police station went off.

 _'All available units, we have a report of a toxic gas attack in the central city shopping mall.'_

Without a second thought, Barry dashed out of his chair and ran for the locker he had inside the room. Seeing what he intended on doing, Caitlin rushed after him.

"Barry, don't," she tried. "We don't know enough about what we're facing yet. It's not safe."

But Barry's mind was set on the mall once he remembered an earlier conversation he had. He turned around, a frantic look on his face. "Caitlin, I _have_ to go. Someone important is there, alright?"

"But-" Caitlin tried again but was cut off when Barry ran out of the lab. "Barry!" she called after him, though in vain.

~ 0 ~

Holding several shopping bags in her hands, Belén contently walked in the mall ready to head to class. But when she made a turn that overlooked the center of the mall, specifically, the elevator coming down to her floor, she abruptly stopped and shrieked without thinking. The glass elevator displayed a horrific sight consisting of a woman relentlessly pounding on the wall for help while a musty, green mist covered the entire square.

Belén's shriek made the rest of the customers look on to the sight, and thus provoked alarm throughout the rest of the mall. Belén looked at her hands, flexing them for a moment as she saw something green on her skin. "No, go away," she whispered and looked back at the elevator. The woman was crying out for help but of course no one could. Belén knew that if she proposed herself, she could probably help a little. _What if I just make a bigger mess out of it?_ she thought. _What if I hurt her instead of helping?_

Belén decided she needed to help the woman. She was the only one in the building after all. She dropped her bags and dashed for the elevator that was arriving on the floor level.

"Stay back!" she ordered the crowd forming by the elevator doors. "I said get back!" as soon as the doors slid open, the green mist flew out and headed away. Determined, Belén ran after it. "Hey!" she shouted, though she wondered if the gas actually had a mind to talk to. She barely grazed the doorknob of the door the gas had gone through when she felt a powerful wind and suddenly found herself by the rail overlooking the center of the mall. It took a moment to realize she had been carried by the Red Streak. "Dammit," she balled her fist and looked towards the crowd of people. She hurried back then, pushing her way through till she stood at the front. She sucked in a breath at the sight of the dead woman sprawled on the floor. Her eyes watered up, her mouth unable to close. She'd taken too long to decide and now someone was dead.

~ 0 ~

If Barry was afraid before arriving at the mall, he was now _furious_ that the metahuman nearly had a face off with Belén. Thankfully he managed to get there on time and speed Belén away before the metahuman could attack.

"Why did you kill that woman?" he caught the metahuman in a lonesome hallway of the mall.

The metahuman, a middle-aged man with no hair and barely eyebrows, turned around. "She deserved to die. Now go run away. I still have one more name on my list. Don't make me add you to it."

But Barry wasn't going to let him get away with the newest murder. He sped towards him, attempting to punch him with no avail. The man retaliated by releasing poisonous gas that quickly invaded Barry's lungs. He took his escape swiftly after that, leaving Barry to suffocate.

~ 0 ~

At Star Labs, Dr. Wells and Cisco were trying to make contact with Barry through the intercom on the desk. All of a sudden, they had lost contact with Barry.

"Barry. Barry, can you hear me?" Wells repeatedly attempted to get a response from Barry, growing more concerned by the mark of the vitals on the computer screens.

"His vitals are weak, but he's alive, Dr. Wells," Cisco pointed out. "I'm sure he's fine."

But as soon as the words left Cisco's mouth, Barry sped into the room, collapsing against the desk between the two humans. "I can't breathe!" he wheezed out the words.

"He needs oxygen!" Wells quickly ordered. "Get the crash cart!" he ordered from Cisco, who jumped out of his chair to get it done.

Barry was then placed on the hospital-like bed in one of the side rooms. Caitlin, who had taken off from the CCPD the moment Barry ran out, arrived in time to assist. The top part of Barry's suit had been open up to his bare chest, and when he saw Caitlin he quickly called to her.

"Cut me open! The poison's still in me!"

"He brought us a sample," Wells motioned to Caitlin to get on the job. "Caitlin, we need to do a pulmonary biopsy, extract an active portion of that gas."

Anxiously, Caitlin looked to Barry. "I can't give you any anesthetic. Your metabolism will burn right through it."

"I heal quick, remember? Do it."

With a sigh, Caitlin glanced at Cisco. "Cisco, give me the syringe. This is gonna hurt a lot," she warned Barry afterwards.

Cisco retrieved the syringe and prepared the needle for her. "It's a small needle," he spoke to Barry, "You probably won't even feel it."

Caitlin rolled her eyes and snatched the syringe from him, clarifying, "You're definitely going to feel it." She stabbed Barry on the chest with it, causing the metahuman to violently gasp before falling unconscious on the bed.

~ 0 ~

"This wasn't funny, Annah-Belén!" Nina angrily scolded her friend after hearing what Belén nearly did at the mall.

"You're going to use my whole name when you're mad with me too?" Belén looked up from the chair of Nina's kitchen, feeling like a child while Nina paced back and forth beside the table.

"Shut up!" came the snappy response from Nina. "This is serious! You could have died back there doing something stupid!"

"It wasn't stupid," Belén meekly argued, her hands fiddling over the table. "I saw the woman pleading for help and I...I had to try to do something."

"With what!?" Nina frantically turned to her friend. "You've got nothing to defend yourself with!"

Belén stared hard at her friend. "You know that's not true."

Nina released a large sigh, rubbing her forehead. "Fine," she gave in, "But you also know you're not in control. That gas thing-"

"He's a man," Belén corrected.

"Fine, the man, is clearly in control of his abilities. What the hell would you have done if he tried attacking you?" Belén had no answer and looked away from Nina. Nina shook her head. "Thank God the Red Streak appeared and got you out of there."

At the mention of the Red Streak, Belén crookedly smiled. "He saved me…"

"But don't expect him to be there every time you have a stupid idea," Nina warned her, not that Belén really paid attention.

"Nina, do you think the Red Streak feels guilty when he lets people die?"

"What?" Nina frowned at the change of topics.

Belén returned her gaze to her friend, allowing Nina to see a different expression on the blonde's face. "That woman that got murdered today - if I had been in control of my abilities and if I had made the decision quicker then I could have maybe done something to help her. But I didn't. I _hesitated_ and she paid the price."

"No, Belén, please don't tell me you actually feel responsible for what happened to this woman," Nina shook her head again.

"But how could I not?" Belén got up from her chair. "I was right there, Nina! Right there!" her voice broke down as the feelings of guilt and despair settled over her. "And I...I couldn't help her."

Nina sighed and came to hug Belén. "You can't feel guilty about something that wasn't your fault. This guy had the plan calculated perfectly. Not even the Streak got there in time."

"But still…" Belén pulled away, her eyes shiny from looming tears, "...maybe if I had control...I-I could have helped in some way. The Streak may have not gotten there in time...but _I_ was there. And I should have been able to do something."

"No - Belén!" Nina called as her friend hurried out of the apartment. "Belén!"

~ 0 ~

When Barry woke up, he found the cortex room empty save for himself and Caitlin. The brunette was sitting beside him, more or less scolding him already with a sharp, silent look. Barry sighed and tilted his head away from her.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Mhm."

"I had to get to the mall fast, alright?" he continued, but Caitlin still didn't speak. "There was a metahuman murderer on the loose, in the mall, where Belén was-"

"Belén was there?" Caitlin cut him off, suddenly curious of the matter.

Barry nodded, slowly turning his head in her direction. "I panicked."

Caitlin put two and two together before dimly smirking. "Wasn't she also the reason why you delayed coming to Star Labs earlier?"

Barry rolled his eyes, assuming where she was headed with the conversation. "Iris mentioned she wasn't feeling well, and, well...she hasn't really been around so I...wanted to go see if she was okay."

"Mhm," Caitlin pursed her lips together, "So that's two times today that you practically blew us off for Bells."

"It's not like that, Caitlin," Barry earnestly said. "I feel incredibly guilty as it is for keeping all this a secret from her - and Iris. The least I can do is keep her safe and be a friend."

Caitlin softly smiled. "Well, you are definitely being a wonderful friend for Bells. I think after everything that's what she needs most."

"Well, I don't know how I'm doing with the 'friend' part considering I keep lying to her every time we meet as the 'Streak'," Barry sighed, closing his eyes for a minute.

"You could just tell her you know," Caitlin reminded him no one was against the idea of Belén knowing the truth behind 'the Streak'. Hell, even Joe didn't mind.

"It's too late for that," Barry made a disappointed face. "I volunteered as two separate people to help her with her brother's case. Can you imagine how she would react if I told her that it's been _me_ all along?"

Caitlin could see the complexity of the situation and sighed. "Alright, so it's not that easy."

"Yeah…"

Caitlin stared at him in a silent minute before saying, "If you want...I could talk to her?" At the suggestion, Barry hastily turned his head in her direction. "I know it wouldn't be the same but...I'm still a friend and I could definitely explain the reasons why we kept all this a secret from her."

Barry softly smiled. "You're a very good friend, Caitlin. But I think, if she's going to hear it from someone, it should be me." Caitlin nodded, not pushing after that. "And you know what, because you had this idea of helping me...I'm going to help _you_."

Caitlin's eyebrows knitted together, confused. "H-how?"

Barry just smiled as he sat upright, his body's quick healing already making a noticeable change in him.

~ 0 ~

With a couple of her friends, Belén made way for her class down the bright, green field of her school campus. However, midway through the field Belén began getting the sensation she was being watched from afar. She didn't even realize she had stopped walking until one of her friends, Hilary, came back for her.

"Hey, Belén, what's up with you?" the ginger haired woman asked.

Belén was looking to her right, scanning the area full of students doing their respective things. "I...don't know," she answered truthfully. "I feel like I'm...being...watched or something."

"Watched?" Hilary followed in the direction Belén was staring at, but due to the sun going down it was harder to identify any potential creep (or perhaps admirer she thought) staring back at them. "I don't see anything - you're just imagining. We're going to be late, now let's go!" she grabbed Belén's arm and pulled her after their other friends.

A couple seconds later, a tall figure stepped out from behind a tree, their eyes indeed watching after Belén.

~ 0 ~

Back in the cortex room, after Barry took Caitlin to the Particle Accelerator so that she would finally conquer any remnant feelings from the accident, Dr. Wells and Cisco called them back up to share the newest information over their metahuman.

"We have identified the toxin," Wells was saying as Cisco pulled up a 3D model across them.

Barry went to have a closer look. "Hydrogen cyanide?" he frowned, glancing back at the others.

"What's interesting is what's mixed in with the cyanide... A sedative."

"Of course," Barry quickly realized and turned to Caitlin who stood by the desk. "The night of the explosion, find out if anyone was executed."

"Why?" the brunette made a face of confusion.

"That sedative is given to criminals on death row before they go to the gas chamber and breathe in hydrogen cyanide."

"That's right," Wells gave an impressed look to Barry while Caitlin got to work.

It didn't take her long to find what they were looking for. "There was someone executed. Kyle Nimbus." She pulled up the profile and displayed it as another hologram for all to see.

"That's him," Barry immediately recognized the man that nearly poisoned him.

"He was a hit man for the Darbinyan crime family. They turned on him and testified. Judge Theresa Howard was the judge at his trial. She sentenced him to death."

"He must have been affected by the explosion while he was being gassed," Cisco concluded based on the evident facts.

"Records indicate the execution was completed," Caitlin read from the bottom of the page.

"That's why there wasn't a match," Barry shook his head. "The DNA database only has records of the _living_. Right. He said there was one more person on his list. Check the arrest record. Who caught him? That could be his next attack."

Caitlin did just that and looked horrified after seeing the information. "Barry, the lead detective…" Barry glanced at her, waiting for her to finish. "...it's Joe."

Barry nearly felt his speedy heart stop then.

It was planned minutes later to get ahold of Joe and warn him of the dangers looming over him. In the meantime, others would try and find the location of the metahuman before he reached Joe. So when Barry couldn't find Joe, it became all that more frustrating and inevitable panic happened. He had to turn in the direction of his partner, Eddie, and while the blonde detective was initially reluctant to reveal Joe's location, he did…

At which point Barry nearly had another heart attack.

~ 0 ~

Henry Allen had no idea what the hell was going on. One minute he was talking to Joe - apparently now Joe believed that he didn't kill his wife - and the next a strange man appeared, turned into gas and poisoned Joe with it. It all seemed straight out of a movie, but unfortunately this was real life and Joe was dying with no one helping him. But suddenly, a red streak came into the room, dressed in a red suit with a mask.

Barry used a syringe to heal Joe from the poison, but since that was the only one he had from Star Labs he was basically on his own going up against Nimbus. While Joe recuperated, Barry glanced at his father who remained behind the glass barring the visitor and prisoner sides. He made his face vibrate to completely conceal his face from Henry.

Suddenly, Barry felt a hand on his arm and looked down to see Joe coming back. "Go get him," he urged Barry.

Knowing he would be fine then, Barry sped out of the room to catch up with Nimbus. The man was halfway down the road from the prison, walking calmly when Barry found him.

"So you've come to finish what the gas chamber couldn't?" Nimbus turned around to face Barry, looking heavily confident.

"You're going somewhere you can't hurt anyone ever again," Barry promised him now that the new metahuman prison was finished.

"Wrong," Nimbus hissed as he released the poisonous gas from his hands.

"You need to stay away from him, Barry. Do not breathe him in," Wells warned Barry through the earpiece of his suit.

Barry followed the warning and still tried to fight Nimbus as best as possible. But every punch he threw was evaded by a quick shift into gas on Nimbus' part. It was impossible to touch the man.

"I'm not sure how that helps me, guys," Barry panted after dozens of failed attempts.

"You can't fight him, Barry. Just keep him coming at you," Caitlin suggested.

"That should sap his strength. Gas is the least stable form of matter," Wells added. "This meta-human will not be able to stay in his mist form for long. His particles will need to reform."

Barry sucked in a big breath before going back in and fighting. He simply did what he done before, attempt to punch Nimbus which would force the metahuman to constantly shift to gas. Eventually, Nimbus became weary with the lack of power and in one of those was unable to change into gas. Barry snatched the opportunity and punched Nimbus square across the face.

"We _win_ ," Barry smirked at the unconscious metahuman on the grass.

~ 0 ~

After Nimbus had been placed 'under arrest' and imprisoned in his new, small-confined cell, the three Star Labs employees gazed at the prisoner with certain awe.

Caitlin winced each time Nimbus pounded on the glass of his cell. "Will it hold?" she had to ask Dr. Wells and Cisco beside her.

Cisco smirked, laughing to himself. "The barrier is powered by an 8.3 Tesla superconducting electromagnet, which is about 100,000 times the strength of earth's magnetic field."

Seeing Caitlin's overwhelmed face, Wells translated. "In other words, yes."

Caitlin sighed and looked at Nimbus again. "I think he's mad."

Now it was Well's turn to smirk as he pressed a button on the wall that began sealing the new prison. "Well, good night."

"So we're just supposed to get used to working above a makeshift prison housing evil people with superpowers," Caitlin reviewed as they made way out of the pipeline.

"You'd be surprised what you can get used to, Caitlin," Wells said rather blankly as he left the room.

"Caitlin," Cisco meekly called for the brunette afterwards. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

She nodded. "What's up?"

"It's about the night that Ronnie died. I…"

Caitlin sighed. "Look, Cisco, I'm okay. I thought coming down here would undo me, but thinking about what Ronnie did to protect us... It just made me love him more." Cisco lightly smiled at her. "Come on. I need ice cream or a drink. Let's see which one we hit first."

~ 0 ~

Late at night, the 'Red Streak' awaited in the Central City park, just beside the fountain. When Belén feebly appeared, she was a little bemused to find him already there.

"Am I late?" she had to ask out loud in case she made the mistake.

"No, I'm early," Barry replied and gazed at her in silence. She looked slightly lost, and tired - very tired.

Belén pursed her lips, coming to a stop a couple feet from him. She glanced down to her brother's altar, where a pin in the shape of an azalea had been pinned earlier in the night. "You put the flower pin," she said quietly, having assumed that the moment she saw it after coming out of classes.

"I did," Barry acknowledged.

"How did you know it was my favorite flower?" Belén curiously looked back to him.

"Believe it or not, I have read some of your work," Barry smiled.

Belén blushed. "You read my work?"

"I like to know who I'm dealing with," Barry shrugged. "Plus, you're a good writer."

"And you're a good hero," Belén remarked, slowly growing quiet again.

Barry noticed this fast and sighed. "You missed our previous meetings, and I notice you look a bit...pale," Belén gulped but let him continue, "And the simple quietness in your usual speedy talk is an outright red alert to me. Is something wrong?"

Belén shakily breathed out, her mind thinking back to today's event at the mall. "You know at the mall when that guy-"

"Oh," Barry frowned, nearly forgetting his planned scolding for her, "I meant to also tell you that you better not go endangering yourself like today." Belén sighed, half expecting something like that from him. "When I go out and save people, I don't really want to know that _you're_ the one in need of saving."

"I just wanted to help," Belén nearly broke down into a sob, startling Barry instantly. "I saw the woman was dying in the elevator and I ran to help, but...but I was too late because I took to long to decide. I-I didn't think about being qu-quick...but then you showed up and you...you took me away and I...I saw the woman dead and I thought...I think...it's partially my f-fault because I didn't do anything t-to h-help-"

"Hey-" Barry reached out to calm her down but instead the woman threw her arms around him for a hug. For a good minute or so, Barry stood there without a clue of what to do. The ombre-blonde lightly shook as she sniffled, but her arms clung around him like her life depended on it.

She was clearly affected by what she saw at the mall, and it reminded Barry of the people he couldn't save from past encounters with metahumans. The inevitable feel of guilt nabbed at his mind, forcing him to be ashamed of himself. _'Why didn't you save them?_ ' he heard in his mind constantly. It was a hard feeling to shake off, and without help from anyone, perhaps it would never go away. He had Joe, Caitlin, Cisco and Dr. Wells...but Belén? Who exactly could she go to in this case? Her father would probably have lost it knowing his daughter had been that close to danger. Iris was certainly not in the eligible case either. Nina, perhaps? But even then, it wouldn't be the same. He saved people - this time he just wouldn't be physically saving someone.

"Bells," he said her nickname without thinking, and pulled away slightly to face the blonde. For safety measures, his face blurred and he took a couple steps back.

"You're going to call me that too?" her raspy voice asked him.

"U-uh," Barry blinked, "Y-yes. Yes, if...if that's okay?"

Belén dimly smiled, nodding her head. "Why not, my friends do, and...I think you're a friend too."

"I am," Barry quickly nodded and resumed to what he was planning on saying first. "As a friend, I don't want you thinking that you had a in hand in this murder. The man who killed her was a prisoner she sentenced to execution." Belén gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "He had her in his hit list and he was going to come after her no matter who stood in the way. She didn't deserve to die, but it wasn't your fault it happened."

"H-how did you make that guilty feeling go away, then?"

"Honestly, it's still there, sometimes. I think, 'What the hell were you doing? You didn't save them'. But then at other times I remember that, no matter how quick I am, I'm still only human. I won't always be able to save everyone but I will always _try_ to save them."

Belén bit her lip, seemingly thinking. "So…"

"That does not mean I want you out there playing hero," Barry quickly cut in, making her smile. "I mean it Belén."

"Okay," Belén nodded, agreeing to the term. "I can't be a hero anyways. I don't think I'd make a good one."

"I think you would be fantastic," Barry declared much to her amusement. "But, for now, focus on your journalism."

"A-and my brother's case," Belén felt the need to remind, in case he forgot in the meantime she had been under.

Barry smiled, nodding. "Of course."

"I'm sorry about missing our previous meetings. I...I was a little sick," she briefly explained. "But I'm better now."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

"Alright," Barry let the subject go, seeing she did appear to be better than before. Perhaps what she needed all along was to release her locked up feelings. "How about we call it a night and I take you home?"

Belén agreed with no hint of disappointment. She felt tired from today, and partly from her 'special condition'. She allowed Barry to take her home where she would hopefully get some needed rest.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hello! I know I've not been so communicative with this story and my apologies. Just know that I am always happy to hear comments or thoughts! :)

 **For the review (from chapter 2):**

Hey! When I saw your review I was like 'oh I should post this chapter to clarify that for you' and I hope the chapter did. Belén is _not_ Plasticine as we saw, it is in fact her older sister. So sorry for that confusion! As we see Belén does not know what her siblings are up to! If there's any other confusion or questions just let me know :)

* * *

As for updates, I'm trying to aim for a every week & a half so that it doesn't clash with my other stories!


	5. Caught Up in You

**A/N:** Fair warning that this is an original chapter!

* * *

"Belén, sweetheart?" David Palayta's voice rang from the living room. Belén, who was sitting at the kitchen table working (or trying to at the very least) on some homework, looked up from her laptop just as her father walked into the room. "I'm going to be working probably all night again. Will you be alright?"

"Yes, Dad, don't worry," Belén smiled as she received a kiss over her head. "I've got tons of work to do myself."

"Oh? Don't tell me you're still doing homework?" David stopped by the counter and grabbed a glass, moving to fill it with water.

"Have I mentioned my hate for biology?" Belén rested her cheek on her hand. "It's completely useless!"

David gave her a sideways glance, clearly taking offense to the statement. Belén shyly smiled and straightened in her chair. "You know, your new friends would be highly upset with that."

"Iris knows and she agrees. Caitlin already knows I hate this stupid subject," Belén began listing off with her fingers, "And then Cisco lets me basically say whatever the hell I want just as long as I listen to his jokes."

"And what about Barry?"

"Well...he does forensics...that has to do with biology?" Belén genuinely blinked in surprise at the new piece of information. "I just thought he was super smart."

"Oh Annah-Belén, where did I go wrong with you?" David walked back to the table, pressing another kiss to his daughter's head.

"Absolutely nowhere," Belén looked up with a wide grin. "It's just not my thing, Dad. I like to write and dance, and...biology is stupid."

"You need to get yourself a tutor," David pointed, heading for the doors but stopping to get his jacket from the hangar.

"And drag some poor innocent soul into this?" Belén sarcastically laughed. "I'm not evil, Dad."

"No, but you will fail and then you'll have a villainous father to deal with," David warned and opened the door. "So study hard. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," Belén waved and watched her father walk out the place. She waited until she heard the car start and drive off before standing up. "I'll work hard alright…" she closed her laptop and and began gathering her books, "...I'll work hard to see the Streak tonight on time," she smirked to herself and hurried off to get a quick change of clothes.

~ 0 ~

One hour later, she and the Streak were in their lonesome park discussing Rayan's case. Barry was in the middle of sharing a new piece of information he'd learned that day when he realized that Belén was staring at him for no reason.

"Bells?" his modulated voice unexpectedly pulled her out from her trance-like state.

Belén rapidly blinked and felt her face warm up from embarrassment. "I'm...I'm so sorry, what was that?"

She hadn't planned on spacing out. There were just times when she tried focusing really hard on his face in order to attempt to find out his true identity. But there were other times when she just found him incredibly...attractive... and she thought that was ridiculous because most of the time when they were close he would purposely hide his face with that speedy trick that blurred his features. She supposed it was just one of those fan crushes someone would get on their favorite superhero. Who wouldn't get them? Half the students in her college had one on the Red Streak.

"I told you that I went looking through your brother's history of the day he went missing and I saw he was nearby a crime scene."

"Crime scene? What kind?"

"It was a robbery," Barry explained, handing her a manila folder full of the crime information. "The band of thieves are notorious for their work with weapons. Their last robbery was just minutes before your brother went missing."

"Are you saying…" Belén checked a couple of profiles of each of the thieves, "...are you saying they have something to do with Rayan? Like...they took him?"

"It's just a supposition," Barry clarified, but it was enough to fill Belén's eyes with newfound joy. "I mean, in your brother's car accident the only thing they found his belongings but not him. Even the driver of the other car wasn't there."

"So it could have been a set up from those thieves?" Belén concluded. "Oh my God, this is a breakthrough!"

"It's nothing concrete," Barry reiterated. As much as he wanted to give her good news, he needed to make sure that Belén understood nothing was set in stone. They could always get things wrong.

Belén nodded, stuffing the folder into her bag. "Thank you so much. I know I keep repeating myself every time we meet but you really have no idea what this means to me."

Barry chuckled, affirming her statement. "And like always, I say you're welcome and that it's my job."

"But it's not your job," Belén softly said. "You came out of nowhere and you decided that it was your duty to fight for this city. And help unimportant people like me with their personal problems?"

"Now who said you were unimportant?" if Barry's face had been clear, Belén would've been witness to the deep scowl running across his lips.

"I'm just a college girl," Belén said, embarrassed. "What makes me so special?"

"What doesn't make you so special?" countered Barry with a highly amused tone. "I like you, Bells. But you have got to stop belittling yourself."

Belén smiled. "I will try."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Belén raised a hand. "Now, could you give me a lift back home? I couldn't risk taking my brother's car because our neighbor, Mrs. Andrews, has a tendency to 'keep an eye on me' on behalf of my Dad."

"C'mon," Barry motioned he would be picking her up again. She allowed him to take hold of her and speed off towards her home.

He went straight to her backyard, through the side gate, and placed her down beside the big tree. Belén fixed her messy hair and straightened the rest of her clothes. The wind of the speed always messed her appearance up.

"Thanks," she said once she felt presentable again. "As always."

"You're welcome - as always," Barry said, backtracking from her enough to where he felt confident to show his face without blurring it.

Belén had grown accustomed to the trick, and while she wasn't happy with it she let it be for the sake of them having another minute together. "I know it's silly to ask but is there anyone waiting for you at home? I mean, if I had a son that was out at this hour I'd be pretty anxious."

If the darkness hadn't covered most of him, Belén would've seen his sad smile. "I live alone, so...I do as I please."

Belén chuckled and passed a hand through her hair. "Right. But, I mean...there's no, uh, no...no...girlfriend waiting for you?" she felt completely intrusive asking but her mind wouldn't let her rest.

"What?" Barry nervously laughed. "N-no! No...not...no!"

The exchange of awkward laughter filled the air, and had both blushing. Eventually, they calmed and Belén glanced at her kitchen hidden behind the swinging curtains.

"I should go inside. Thanks," she glanced towards Barry, wishing he would just step out of the darkness to see who he was behind that mask.

"Until next time, Belén," Barry waved and sped off.

Belén momentarily closed her eyes from the wind Barry left behind. She took a deep breath and went inside, hoping to do some research...or homework...which one happened to be easiest.

~ 0 ~

It turns out, neither had been easier for Belén. Three days later, Belén heavily sighed as she stepped out of her biology classroom. Her eyes were glued to the ugly red 'F' marked at the top of recent quiz.

"Unbelievable," she cursed herself and stormed down the hallway. If this continued then she would, without a doubt, fail the class.

She abruptly stopped when she felt eyes burning on the back of her head. Turning her head slightly to the right, she scanned her immediate surroundings for any lingering stares. It was a tough decision whether to be disappointed she saw no one staring or relieved that no one was staring.

Slowly, she began to walk again. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

For the past weeks, it had just clung to her.

~ 0 ~

"You're not being smart, that's all I'm saying," Cisco flapped a hand as if to emphasize his words more to Barry. They made a turn for the cortex room. "Sooner or later Belén will figure it out and bam! there will be trouble."

"I'm just helping," Barry grew tired of repeating himself to everyone. Could no one understand it was just his way of repaying Belén for all that she'd done for him while he was in his coma?

" _No_ , you're getting closer to her," Cisco inclined his head, that little smirk making Barry turn away as if he were choosing to look at his suit across. "And sooner or later, it's going to blow up in your face. Now, I like Belén, and I like Barry, and I definitely wouldn't want Belén and Barry to be upset with each other."

Barry shook his head and turned to his friend, leaning on the ledge of the computer desk. "It's not gonna happen."

"Oh yeah?" Cisco arched an eyebrow as he plopped down on the computer chair. "How do you know?"

"Because she's never gonna find out that I'm the 'Red Streak'."

And soon as those words were spoken, they heard Belén's voice from the corridor. "Hello!?"

Barry's eyes widened in moment terror while Cisco leaned back on his chair and enjoyed the view. In a second Barry had sped around the desk and pressed a button that shielded his suit behind a hidden compartment in the wall.

"Still can't believe you made me install that," Cisco muttered to Barry as the meta human took a seat beside him. "And just so that Bells could keep coming in here!"

"Shut up!" was all Barry said in regards to the matter.

Both men exchanged looks when Belén finally came in. "Guys…" her nervous voice pulled them out of their playful bickering. She looked completely pale and scared.

Minutes later, they had her sitting down in one of their chairs by the desk and listened to her apparent problem.

"I think someone's following me. Whenever I'm walking on a street, or even at school, I feel someone is staring at me."

"Well, maybe they think you're cute," Cisco shrugged casually, earning Belén's graceful smile.

"Thanks Cisco," she said sheepishly, knowing he was just trying to make her feel less afraid. "But I think this is more than just a crush. There's this coffee shop I always go to in my campus, and when I felt the stares again, I decided to get smart."

"What did you do?" Barry inquired, heavily interested on who was giving her trouble.

"One of the baristas is cousin to a friend of mine. I asked him if he could take a look around for me and see if there was someone looking at me weirdly."

"And…?"

Belén's eyes watered up fast, her lips pursing together. "There was this guy in a hoodie and...apparently, he only shows up on the days I have classes. He's _following_ me!"

"Woah, hey," Cisco crouched beside her chair and side hugged her. "It's gonna be alright."

Seeing Belén nearly crying stirred a new feeling inside Barry, and he acted on it without a second thought. He reached for her hand, a fierce look on his face. "No one is going to hurt you, Bells. We'll go to police station and have someone look into it."

"But what am I going to say to them?" Belén laughed bitterly. "That some guy in a hoodie was following me? I don't know what he looks like, Barry."

"But the coffee shop has to have security cameras," Cisco quickly supplied, getting an agreeing nod from Barry. "That's a great start. And if he was at school then those cameras had to capture him too."

Barry gently pulled Belén up to her feet. "I can't go to the station right now, though," Belén informed. "I have to go to Jitters. I got myself a biology tutor online and we're supposed to meet today."

"I'm taking you myself, then," Barry volunteered and had a look that said he wouldn't change his mind.

Belén admitted it did make her feel safer so she didn't put in a word of refusal either. Instead, she turned to Cisco and gave him a hug goodbye.

Cisco kissed her head and smiled when he pulled back. "We'll figure it out, Bells, you'll see."

"Okay," Belén said, but there was barely a true belief in it. She allowed Barry to tug her out of the room afterwards.

~ 0 ~

Waiting for Belén's tutor turned out to be a longer waiting task than either Belén or Barry anticipated. In the beginning, Iris had come by to offer them coffee but both had refused on account of Barry having to leave soon and Belén meeting the tutor. After thirty minutes passed by, Barry caved and went to the counter to order them coffee.

"What exactly are you doing?" Iris inquired curiously after setting two mugs of coffee on the counter. Usually, she would've teased they were on a date or something but seeing the look on Belén's face told her something quite different was up. "You've been here for thirty minutes and you've just...sat…?"

Barry was taking out a twenty from his wallet and briefly glanced over his shoulder to Belén. The ombre-blonde woman was sitting silently with a blank expression, her biology book shut on the side of the table. "She's just going through some stuff," Barry left it at that and handed Iris the twenty.

"What kind of stuff?" Iris arched an eyebrow, moving to the cash register. "Her mom left and even with her brother's case closed she never had _that_ look on her face. Barry, what's going on?"

"I don't know," Barry shrugged, trying to act like usual. "She doesn't say much-"

"And that's a big red flag," Iris interjected, handing him back his change. "Belén the motor mouth, do you remember?" she inclined her head, hoping her serious look would guilt Barry into telling her.

"I don't know, Iris," Barry raised his hands in surrender then grabbed both mugs and left before Iris could continue. It wasn't like he liked lying to Iris but this was actually not something for him to say. Only Belén could decide who she told and he would respect that.

Belén lightly flinched with the clank noise the mug gave when Barry placed in front of her. She raised her eyes and met a smiling Barry. "I didn't know exactly what you wanted so I went with a latte?" Barry sat down across her.

Belén mumbled a 'thank you' and took the mug. "You don't have to be here, Barry," she said before taking a small sip.

"It makes you feel better," Barry said quite confidently then realized how it came out and sputtered out an apology. "N-n-not that...I m-mean not-t...not like...you know...like, uh…"

Belén watched him struggle to say a complete sentence and eventually had to smile just a little. " _That_ made me feel better."

Barry flushed with embarrassment and opted for a long drink of coffee. And when his throat burned from the hot liquid, he put a hand on his lap and balled it up to keep a loud yelp inside. He was acting like a dork, and not the cute dork that Iris always told him he could be, but a proper idiot dork. He always ended up doing this kind of stuff around Belén and he would like to file a complaint with his mind for it.

"You really don't have to be here, though," Belén repeated herself, unknowingly pulling Barry out of his thoughts. She put her mug down and sighed. "I'm in a public place. If the guy wanted to do something he would wait until I was somewhere completely secluded."

"I don't care, I'm staying until your tutor arrives." Barry checked his watch and saw the time had changed into forty minutes of tardiness from this tutor. "Though with the time…"

"I don't know what's going on," Belén admitted, stumped on her unprofessional tutor's absence.

"Where'd you even get the tutor from?" Barry asked.

"There was this ad slipped into my tennis locker at school today and I just called the number."

 _Red alarm_ , thought Barry.

"H-how do you mean 'an ad'?" Barry leaned forwards on the table.

"There's always people looking to make an extra buck around the school, Barry. Our tennis lockers are always full of different ads - cheaper textbooks, supplies, tutors. I got it yesterday and since I failed my test today I figured why not."

"And who answered the call? Did he give you a clear identification?"

"It was a guy, said his name was Alonso. He's a biology major but no, I didn't get all his ID stuff. It's just a tutor and it's from school."

Barry thought about his next words really carefully, wanting to save her from another episode of nervousness. And then he realized: why tell her? Clearly, she hadn't realized this ad was a fake and that it had been a nasty trick by whomever was following her. She was just barely making it.

Instead, he had come up with a better solution.

"Okay, clearly the guy's not coming-"

"Clearly," Belén shook her head.

"But that's okay," Barry went on, broadly smiling. "If you want some extra help with this class, I can do it."

"I _had_ considered that before," Belén glanced at her textbook. "Actually, my Dad was the one to point out that I do have some very smart friends. After I failed the test I considered asking Caitlin first…"

"I can do it," Barry insisted. "I'm definitely more fun." That last one made her chuckle and made Barry much happier. "I can definitely do it, Bells."

"I mean…" Belén began, closer to agreeing, "...I suppose it would be easier and much more comfortable with someone I already know. How much do you want?"

"What?" Barry laughed.

"Your fee - how much do you want?"

"Bells," Barry continued laughing and unintentionally made her think she'd said something wrong.

"I'm...sorry?"

"Belén, I'm your _friend_ , I want to help you not _charge_!"

Belén blinked. "But...but you can't just do it for _free_. You have things to do, you might as well get something in return."

"You want me to charge you?"

"Yes!"

Barry swayed his head and thought for a minute. "You want a fee? Here's the fee: if you get a B on your next exam you owe me a cup of coffee."

"And what if I get an A?" Belén challenged.

"Then you owe me a good drink."

Belén chuckled and nodded her head in agreement. "Alright. I'll take that deal."

"Great!" Barry couldn't show his full relief at this news and settled for getting up from his chair and going to her side just to hug her.

"You're that happy because you get to tutor me?" Belén yanked away and looked up at him with a face of confusion yet amusement. "You do realize what you just got yourself into, right?"

"C'mon, we can get started right now if you'd like."

"I thought you said we should go to the station for my little problem remember?" Belén sighed. "Since my tutor is a no-show I guess we can do that."

"Right," Barry nodded and helped her out of her seat. "Let's go do that and then we can go wherever you want to study."

Belén agreed and grabbed her things to leave. As the two left Jitters they didn't notice the man in a gray hoodie following them from across the street. His eyes were trained on the ombre-blonde, eyes briefly flickering to Barry.

~ 0 ~

Cisco hurried into the cortex room with a mug in hand, nearly spilling its contents as he fumbled to pick up his cellphone left behind on the desk. "Yello!?"

"Cisco," came Barry's voice on the other line, "I need a favor."

"What is it?" Cisco sat down on a chair and pulled his feet up to the desk.

"See if you can tap into Belén's college campus - especially the coffee place - and try get anything on that hoodie guy."

The request surprised Cisco but he couldn't himself denying a favor that would benefit Belén. "Okay…" he said slowly, straightening up on his chair. "I thought you were taking her to the station-"

"Yeah, we're here and Belén is talking to Joe. But listen, this is personal. I want to find this guy myself."

"The Red Streak is on the case," Cisco smirked, already on board without proper asking. "I like it."

"So can you do it? I'll send you anything else Belén leaves with Joe."

"Of course, leave it to me!" Cisco hung up, put his phone down and cracked his fingers to get to work.

~ 0 ~

There was an incessant knocking on an apartment door, and soon enough came the owner of said apartment, mad as hell. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" the petite blonde stalked up to the door and opened it up. "What the hell do you - HEY!"

Plasticine strode into the apartment without so much of a care for the blonde. "Rayan? RAYAN!" she called.

"Hey! You want to shout a little louder? I don't think the next block hear yah!" the blonde snapped behind Plasticine, shutting the door.

Plasticine paid her no attention. "Rayan! Come out! You said to be here!"

Rayan emerged from the hallway with a laptop in his arms. "Maritza, do we really have to come here all dressed up? It's not like Angie doesn't already know who you are."

Maritza pulled her mask off her face and threw a glare at Angie. "Well, if we're on the topic of collecting teammates - I found a new one."

"Really?" Rayan mused at the idea. "Who is it?"

"A young man, about your age and...this one here," Rayan gestured to Angie. "Has some trouble with Harrison Wells & STAR Labs. I figured he might have pretty good motivation."

"Where is he?"

"Right at home where I told him I'd get him if you wanted."

"We'll talk about it later, then. Right now, I want you to take care of something. It's about our sister - she's been looking for me."

Maritza made a face, clearly taken aback. "What? N-no, Belén is moving on from your 'death' and-"

Angie snorted and walked over. "Unlikely considering we tracked the searches to her IP address. I didn't take your sister to be Sherlock Holmes."

"No, this has to be a mistake," Maritza rubbed her temples.

"It's _not_ ," Rayan declared, putting down the laptop on the coffee table. "And we both know that we can't have Belén looking into my case anymore."

"So then what do we do?"

Angie smirked. "Well I proposed we give your baby sis a little scare."

Maritza dropped her hands from her face, letting her mask fall in the process. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing serious," Angie waved her off. "Just a little warning to make sure she stops. If she's got no powers then we wouldn't even have to do much to scare the living crap out of her."

Maritza glanced at Rayan to see what he thought. The younger man gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I love my sister, but she needs to be stopped. You just can't hurt her, that's all."

"Me? You want me to go and face our sister? Are you serious?"

"You'd be wearing a mask," Rayan pointed out. "Plus, you can take Angie with you."

"I can do it on my own if you'd like," Angie offered kindly, but Maritza would rather die than let her sister face off some woman who could probably care less.

"You have to take her laptop and everything," Rayan told them both. "We can let her go back to searching."

"I can take things from the house no problem," Maritza agreed.

"Then I can take Belén," Angie raised a finger.

"You'll be going with who I have trusted with our secret," Maritza corrected, glancing to Rayan. "The new recruit? I do trust him."

"Fine. Then get to it," Rayan said. "Plan it well."

~ 0 ~

Some time later, Belén and Barry relocated to Belén's home to begin on that tutoring. Without fully realizing it, Barry had gotten Belén to forget about ever visiting the police station and making that report on her stalker. However, it wasn't because of a good reason.

"So the process of replication is basically when DNA makes a copy itself - it's like the basic point for inheritance. When replication happens, the strands separate and then each of them serve as templates for the production of its counterpart. That's known as semi-conservative replication. Afterwards Cellular proofreading happens which is just like an error-checking process to make sure everything was replicated perfectly."

Belén had an arm resting on the edge of her kitchen table, her cheek placed on her palm. Her eyes were blinking rapidly while Barry explained. "No, sorry, I lost you when you started speaking Chinese."

"I wasn't speaking Chinese…" Barry said slowly, figuring perhaps he has entered a rapid rambling state.

"Oh, I beg to differ," Belén straightened up.

"O-okay, tell me where you got lost?"

"Easy-" Belén gave a nod, "-as soon as your mouth opened up."

Barry sent an unamused look at her. "Bells…"

"I'm sorry! I'm just stupid at this science stuff, okay?" Belén laughed to herself and glanced at her open biology textbook. "I mean, replication? Transcription? What the hell is all this stuff?"

"Very important stuff," Barry assured her.

"It's _boring_ stuff," Belén countered. "Talk to me about journalism stuff. The words, the people, me being out there, that's important. Or about dancing steps. Not this crummy stuff I won't ever use."

Before Barry could prove this was all truly important, the front door opened and Belén's father walked in. "Belén?"

"Over here, Dad," Belén waved her hand as she skimmed another page of this replication stuff.

"What's going on here?" David eyed the table full of school work on his way to the fridge.

"I got myself a tutor," Belén gestured to Barry beside her.

"Well it was about time," David walked back to them with a bottle of Gatorade in hand. "Barry, was it?"

"Yes," Barry rose up from his chair to shake hands with the man. "Nice to meet you."

"So, how's she doing?"

"Umm…" the look on Barry's face said it all.

"Belén, pay attention," her father scolded her like she was doing it all on purpose.

"What!? Seriously!? I don't plan this you know!" she groaned. "I'm actually trying my best but this is all completely ridiculous with all these terms and different processes and crazy pictures and-"

"Stop rambling and listen," David smiled and looked at Barry almost sympathetically. "Good luck, Barry."

"Dad!" Belén called after him, mortified at such a lack of belief in her. Barry was laughing beside her and instigated a very offended "Quit laughing at me!" from her.

"Okay, okay, okay," Barry tried sobering up fast and scooted his chair closer to hers, "Let's try this again, alright?" Belén nodded and did her best to pay attention.

But then a cellphone went off.

"Sorry," Barry made a face as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. "It's Joe," he said right before answering.

Belén smiled and got up to give them some privacy. She went for the kitchen intending on finding a snack somewhere. Between her schoolwork and research, she hadn't paid much attention to the house needs.

"Bells, I'm sorry, but I have to go," Barry apologized and stood up. "There's been a robbery and…"

"It's alright," Belén waved it off and turned around. "We can continue tomorrow if you'd like - or _can_."

"Definitely," Barry said quickly.

Belén's smile faltered when everything spun in front of her.

"Bells!" Barry ran over to her just as she slumped forwards, catching her. "What is it? What's wrong!?"

Belén cursed her body's imprudence and tried to get through the moment as fast as possible. "I'm-I'm fine…" she swallowed hard.

She was not fine.

Barry leaned her against the counter and rushed to get her a glass of water. "Don't lie to me, Belén. This isn't the first time it's happened, remember?"

Belén took the glass from him and drank a little. "And during that time I was having trouble with my classes...remember? It's just burn out, nothing more." Barry didn't look the least bit convinced. "Don't you have a case to go to?" Belén asked impatiently, putting down her glass on the counter.

Barry only left the conversation because Joe really was waiting for him to arrive and take samples from the crime scene. "Please, just...get some rest?"

"I can do that," Belén nodded calmly, the light smile on her lips would've convinced anyone who didn't know her. But, Barry knew her much more than she thought.

The moment he was out on the street, he dialed a number on his phone.

"Hello?" Iris chirped.

"Iris, I need a favor," Barry wondered just how many times he was going to use that line on behalf of Belén...but that was going to be for another moment.

"Sure, what do you need?"

Barry glanced back at Belén's house, and explained to Iris.

~ 0 ~

That same night, much later, Belén was pulled out of her research when someone knocked on the door - and much too excitedly she added silently.

"Hiiii!" Iris exclaimed happily, waving a hand while the other held a duffel bag.

Belén made a face. "Iris? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sleeping over - random girls' night!"

"Wh-what?" Belén barely got to say when Iris walked right in.

"Hello, Mr. Palayta," Iris greeted Belén's father from the kitchen.

"Hi Iris," David gave a warm smile in return. "What brings you here?"

"There's just sooo many things I want to talk about with Bells and I figured since my Dad is working late with Eddie I could maybe sleep over?" Iris put her hands together with that wide smile that no one could resist.

David just chuckled and gave his approving nod. "You're always welcomed here, Iris."

"Oh, thank you!" Iris cheered and turned back for Belén who was still registering the fact she had a new guest and thus her ongoing research would be put on hold. "C'mon, Bells!" She grabbed her duffel bag and took her friend upstairs.

Though Belén was mildly upset with Iris' surprise visit, she soon left the idea of sending her back home using a lame excuse. The truth was she missed normal friendship sleepovers. Everything as of late had become so entangled Belén barely had time to breath.

Iris was a reminder that she was indeed normal, and that she deserved more normal moments.

Like painting each other's nails.

"Iris, I don't want that color," Belén was scrunching her face at the pastel turquoise nail polish Iris was opening up.

"It goes great with you," was Iris' main defense as she set down the nail polish on Belén's nightstand and shuffled on the bed to begin.

"Oh, Iris," Belén sighed but gave in without another word. She let Iris take her right hand and watched her delicately paint over her thumb's nail.

"Soo...you want to explain why Barry all of a sudden didn't want to leave your side today?" Iris discreetly raised her eyes up to her friend, who was already looking nervous.

She was no fool, even if Barry didn't tell her why he wanted - no, sorry, why he _believed_ it would be a good idea for her to stay at Belén's for a night, Iris knew it had something to do with whatever was bothering Belén earlier at Jitters.

"Iris…" Belén sighed, looking to the side.

"Bells," Iris gently tugged her wrist and forced them to look at each other, "You and I are good friends, right?"

"Like best friends," Belén clarified quietly.

"And best friends always tell each other what's going on. Please, have some trust in me."

Belén released a low sigh and nodded her head. "Okay, but you can't tell my Dad under any circumstances."

"Promise," Iris raised a hand then went back to painting Belén's nails.

"Someone's been following me for some time now, and I told Barry and Cisco about it."

"Why them?" Iris made a face then silently thought about it. Since Belén and Cisco nearly dated they had formed a strong bond that had Cisco like a male best friend. Iris could see why Belén would go to him. And Barry? Well...Barry just had one of those traits that made one immediately trust him.

"I needed to tell someone," Belén went on without knowledge of Iris' inner thoughts. "I went into STAR Labs and they were there. My mouth started before I could even realize."

"Please tell me you've gone to the police about this already?"

"Yeah, Barry took me this afternoon and I talked to your Dad. I practically begged him not to say anything to my father - hooray for being a legal adult," Belén made a languid gesture before sighing again. "I'm scared, Iris. I've never been in a situation like this and...I don't know how to forget the fact that some creeper is following me."

Iris now understood perfectly why she was here. She finished Belén's right hand and began painting the pinkie finger of her left hand. "Well, you won't be left alone that's for sure. If I'm not with you, then Barry will be, or Cisco, or Caitlin. You won't be alone."

Belén suspiciously looked at her friend for a minute before it hit her. "Did Barry tell you to come here tonight?" The answer was crystal clear when Iris stiffened. "Oh my God it _is_. You're here to babysit me."

"Please don't tell Barry I messed it up," Iris shook her head. "I didn't know this was the reason - he was very obscure with his words."

"Oh my God!"

"No, but it's okay!" Iris took down Belén's flapping hands. "We haven't had one sleepover since Barry went into the coma."

"But that's just it, Iris," Belén snatched her hands and got up from the bed. "This _isn't_ a sleepover: it's a babysitting job."

"No it's not!" Iris insisted, staying on her spot.

"So if Barry hadn't called you then you would still be here?"

Iris bit her lip, nervously smiling. "Okay, so...maybe it kinda is like babysitting but it's clear I'm not _actually_ babysitting right now. I miss my friend, Bells. Are you really going to get mad at me?"

Belén dropped her arms on her sides and sat back down. "I'm not mad with anyone, I'm simply disagree with what Barry did."

"Then let's forget all about this and just focus on a sleepover! I vote we do this every week," Iris laughed.

"That doesn't sound half bad, honestly," Belén mused. "Maybe I can even get Caitlin to come."

"Oh, yes!" Iris pointed in agreement. "Poor girl stuck in between all that testosterone can't be fun for her."

Belén laughed and fully agreed. And as the night progressed she really did end up forgetting her problems.

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe you guys are actually doing this," Caitlin declared, but of course she didn't mean it. Of course she believed Barry and Cisco would spend an entire afternoon working to find out who was Belén's stalker. Of course.

"We wanted to help, Cait," Barry shrugged, much too focused on the computer screen Cisco was working on to look at her. "The police simply aren't fast enough."

"But of course you are," Dr. Wells mused, exchanging a knowing look with Caitlin.

"Exactly," Barry said without noticing the looks.

"But so far there's not enough footage," Cisco remarked after pausing an ongoing security video. "I mean, there's the guy," he pointed at the hoodie man, "but it's blurry."

"So, just clear it up," Caitlin shrugged.

"That can take hours."

"Which you have."

"Caitlin's right," Barry straightened. "You do that and I'll check up on Bells."

"Right, give _me_ the boring job," Cisco playfully rolled his eyes.

"I have to tutor actually, so believe me it won't be all that glamorous."

Barry was only midway towards the exit when everyone did a simultaneous 'woah' and called him back.

"Now you're _tutoring_ her?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

"It was the only she would stop putting herself in danger!"

The other three traded looks before all agreeing that was a horrible excuse.

Barry sighed and explained more fully his reasons. "I figured out that the tutor Belén was actually going to meet was her stalker. She called him and everything. I had to do something, alright?"

"Wait, she called him?" Cisco asked. "And he, like...answered?"

"Yeah…" Barry then realized it was certainly useful information. "Wait, do you think we could track the guy down with the phone?"

"Uhh…" Cisco honestly thought about it. "I don't know…"

"We can do it," Barry was already going on with the plan. "I take her phone and we track the call."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"She's going to be work anyways it's not like she'll need it," Barry shrugged.

"Besides-" Caitlin interjected, "-she'll have her very own bodyguard in the meantime," she smirked to herself and turned to her computer.

Barry rolled his eyes and sped out of the room.

Cisco looked Caitlin's way and ended up smirking too. "I bet you twenty a date will come up in the next month."

"What?" Caitlin blinked, looking indignant that this was turning into a _game_. She only joked with Barry because it was fun annoying him but she wouldn't make money off actual feelings.

"Alright two months," Cisco offered.

"Cisco!"

"I'll join the bet," Dr. Wells chimed in, surprising the two younger employees. "I like to have fun," he reasoned after the looks he received.

"One month?" Cisco repeated.

"Two months."

"Deal!"

Caitlin looked between the two men, feeling incredibly guilty as she cut in. "Belén's too shy, like the counterpart of Barry, it'd be at least three months till one of them makes a move."

Cisco's wide, teasing smile made her feel worse. "One, two three months, alright!"

~ 0 ~

"You know, I don't appreciate you sending Iris as a babysitter," Belén remarked as she and Barry walked down a street, heading for CC Pictures.

Barry winced and sheepishly glanced down at her. "You know?"

"Yes, and I'm not happy about that."

"I'm sorry, Bells, I was just trying to help…"

Belén smiled when she saw the instant guilt in him. She would let him off with a warning, she decided. "I appreciate your concern but I don't think Iris should be dragged into my problems. She's got a lot of stuff to do."

"She didn't mind," Barry waved it off. Belén laughed and shook her head at him. He could act like such a child sometimes. "So I was thinking about our tutoring problem," Barry changed the subject successfully, "And I realized you were right about something."

"And that would be?" Belén wondered. It wasn't common for her to be right about something concerning biology.

"You're a journalist," Barry declared, almost like it was a secret even she didn't know, "Which means you're used to seeing things face to face - like interviews and videos. You're a visual learner!"

"And that means…?" Belén silently laughed at herself for ever thinking she would've been right about something in biology.

"A perfect way to tutor you is to use visualization. You know, like we can use simple things to recreate what I'm talking about."

"Like blocks? And play-doh? That's what kindergarten classes do to teach the students, no?"

"Yes!" Barry pointed. "We can use all that to help you understand!"

Belén giggled. "Great, so I'll be a kindergartner. Will I get milk and cookies during a break?"

Barry played along and nodded his head. "If you're extra good there may even be apple juice."

"I don't like Apple juice," Belén scrunched her nose with distaste.

"Orange juice?"

"There we go!"

Barry grinned at her enthusiasm, and the fact she was forgetting of her problem. They came to a stop just outside CC Pictures.

"So, we'll see each other tomorrow for that tutoring right?" he asked.

"Mhm, and I'll ask Maritza if she can loan me some of her classroom bits for the session," Belén laughed.

"Right," Barry gave her a hug, and he discreetly dipped a hand into her bag to pull out her phone. He hated stealing from her but he conformed with the idea he would be tracking down the creep who was stalking her. If she got mad, he would find a way to make it up to her.

After bidding goodbye, Belén watched Barry leave a couple seconds before entering the news place. At the end of the street, the hoodie man stepped out behind a pole. His eyes had narrowed at the exchange between the two. He needed to act fast before anything more happened.

~ 0 ~

"I don't...I don't know…" Cisco let his hands lightly slam on the desk. Barry sighed beside him, letting his head hang. "It's just we don't have the expertise to do this."

"We're scientists, not hackers," Caitlin mused from her spot at the desk. "It's one thing to hack into street security cameras but a single phone searching for a single contact is tougher." She was drinking from a mug of coffee and amusingly staring at the two while they desperately tried hacking into Belén's phone. They'd been at it for a near two hours with no progress.

"Caitlin, please, we're trying to work," Cisco rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm just pointing out a simple truth," Caitlin raised a hand in surrender.

"There has to be a way we could track the caller," Barry persisted, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm open for ideas," Cisco expectantly looked at him, arms crossed.

Barry began to pace while he thought of an actual idea. Five minutes later, he stopped. "There is...one person...that's incredibly good with computers."

"Who?" both Cisco and Caitlin looked at him curiously.

Barry turned to them, his hands behind his head, somewhat nervous. "Someone's I've neglected to give a call since I woke up from the coma."

The obscure answer left Cisco and Caitlin in the same state of confusion and curiosity they were in before the answer.

~ 0 ~

"I don't understand where my phone went," Belén exasperatedly rummaged through her bag for her cellphone. Linda stared at the intern, in right entertainment as Belén went from one desk to another thinking she'd dropped it there. "I can't believe this!" Belén exclaimed and stopped when she remembered the last time she'd used her phone. "Oh! Maybe it's on the street!"

"I doubt it'll still be there," Linda called but Belén was already on her way out.

It was beginning to get dark but Belén was confident she would find her phone again. She remembered the way Barry had walked them through and followed it. But when she turned down the block, she bumped into someone - a woman in leather purple.

"S-sorry," Belén stumbled back, her smile fading when she looked up to the woman.

Though she wore a purple mask covering the top half of her face, her eyes bore on Belén in an intense way. Her burned brunette hair was as shiny as her clothing. "Belén Palayta?" the modulated voice of Plasticine stirred a fear in Belén.

"Wh-who are you?" Belén swallowed hard, discreetly moving back to the street of CC Pictures.

"Plasticine." The woman took steps towards Belén. "You've been sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, Belén. And it has to stop."

There was a crash of windows that made Belén jump and whirl to the direction of her workplace. She caught two masked people breaking in with weapons.

"Oh my God!" she meant to run after them but Plasticine grabbed her by the neck and yanked her back. Belén gasped for air as the arm tightly gripped her neck.

"This is a warning, Belén," Plasticine murmured in Belén's ear. "Stop your silly search for your brother. He's _dead_. He served his function to our crew and we killed him."

"Wha-"

Plasticine shoved her to the ground and stepped a black heeled boot beside Belén's head, startling the blonde. "Next time you get the urge to research about us we'll make our anger known. Whether it's through your father or your little friends."

Belén fearfully gazed up at the tall woman, her hot tears pricking her eyes but not daring to escape in front of the stranger. "What happened to my brother?"

"He _died_ ," Plasticine looked past her to the end of the street where her two comrades had come out of the news place already. "This was your first and final warning, Belén. Heed it." She walked past Belén and strode down the rest of the street.

"No, wait!" Belén scrambled to get up but Plasticine shot out a purple, shapeless mass her way. Belén yelped and let herself fall again to dodge the mass in time.

Plasticine stopped beside CC Pictures to observe the destruction her two comrades had made. She could see that her sister's desk had been completely ransacked of everything. She'd already taken care of the house so that meant Belén would have nothing left to search with. Feeling secure, she ran off.

"No!" Belén saw her one chance of finding her brother (whether dead or alive by that point) disappearing. She got up and made to run when someone grabbed her from behind, in a choke-hold.

Everything went dark soon after.

~ 0 ~

Usually, CC Pictures was the place where news was given out, not the center where the news took place. This time, the photography was aimed towards the inside of the building.

"I don't know what happened - one moment we were working, the next these two people come in and start bashing things with these...these weird powers…" Linda Park was giving her testimony to Eddie Thawne by her desk that had miraculously stayed together and unturned.

Meanwhile, Barry was carefully examining the destruction at the other end of the room. Joe came up beside him inquiring the status of the scene. "So we've got new metahumans in the city. One has..." Barry gestured to the bits and pieces of ice shards left scattered around, "...ice powers. The other was reported to use some sort of electrical power. She appeared and disappeared. But the interesting part is they came looking for Belén's things," Barry narrowed his eyes, struggling to push away the overwhelming urge to speed out and begin the search for Belén.

"They destroyed her computer," Joe pointed to the bits and pieces that used to be Belén's laptop on the floor. "Ripped up all her papers - they basically destroyed everything of hers. And, what they didn't, they took. There was also a sighing of that purple girl Cisco talks about sometimes, but she didn't do anything except stand there."

"Why? Why would they do that?" Barry turned away, balling a fist on his side. "It doesn't make sense!"

"Hey, Barry?" Linda called out to Barry once she finished her testimony. Joe left to go converse with Eddie over the new testimony in case it was useful. "You need to find my friend," it sounded like an order but she didn't quite care how it came out.

"We will," Barry nodded. "I'm gonna get on it right now."

"Do you have any idea who those people were?" Linda asked, stopping him from walking away. "Because it sounded like they knew her. I know Belén and she doesn't make _those_ types of friends."

"No, I don't think she knew them," Barry sighed.

"Do you think...that maybe those people were there because Belén refuses to let go of her brother's disappearance?"

The question struck realization in Barry.

"Belén didn't tell me straight up but I know she hasn't let go of Rayan's case. Whenever she's on a break she's always on the laptop of hers. It's pretty easy to put two and two." Linda crossed her arms and lowered her tone. "Those people that came in asked only for Belén's things and destroyed just her things. They said something of a lesson...what else could they be talking about?"

Linda Park was a genius, Barry immediately thought.

"Did you hear anything else?" Barry inquired. "Anything that could help us?"

"Just what I told Detective Thawne," Linda shrugged, "The purple woman - the one that shoots those purple things - they were talking about her, I know they were. She's the one who was standing outside...and I'm guessing she's the one that took Belén in the end."

"What was Belén doing outside in the first place?"

"Looking for her phone. She dropped it somewhere and when she went out that's when the people came in."

Barry felt a bad ping in his heart after that. It was his fault, no doubt. He took her phone and Belén went outside in search of it.

"Barry?" Linda's voice brought him back to the present. She was giving him a motion but he didn't quite catch it. "Your phone, it's ringing."

"What?" that's when Barry realized his phone was indeed ringing, and relentlessly. Linda lightly smiled and walked away, leaving him to tend to the call. "Cisco, what is it?"

~ 0 ~

At STAR Labs, both Cisco and Caitlin were staring wide-eyed at the computer screen.

The hoodie man had been identified.

"Felicity got back to us," Cisco began, his skin crawling with both fury and overwhelming fear.

"And?" Barry's impatient tone went unnoticed by the two employees.

"You'll never believe who took her…"

"He's been M.I.A for months now," Caitlin remarked off to the side.

"Who!?" Barry practically shouted from the other line.

~ 0 ~

"Wakey, wakey, my dear Belén," went a familiar voice.

Belén was tied to wooden chair, her head hanging with her ombre blonde hair draped in front. She could hear the voice, and slowly configured it to its owner. She raised her head, and though hair strands still covered her face, she saw perfectly the man in the gray hoodie.

"C-Carlton?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Be honest...did anyone see that coming? ;). I broke this chapter in two because it was a bit big so the next chapter, because it will be the second part, will be uploaded this week too!


	6. Not Yours Anymore

Belén's ex-boyfriend, Carlton, propped up a chair in front of her and sat down. There was a wicked look in his eyes and Belén theorized he wasn't quite 'there, there' since the last time they'd seen each other. He, on the other hand, loved the situation they were now in. Belén was tied up by the wrists behind her chair, as well as her ankles.

"Surprised?" Carlton started the mocking round with her. "I bet you are. It's been a long time since we've seen each other... _Bells_."

"Don't call me that," Belén snapped. " _You_ don't get to call me that."

"Oh, right, right, it's a cute little nickname one of your boyfriends gave you, right?" Carlton tilted his head, feigning thoughts. "What was his name? The not vegetable one?"

Belén narrowed her eyes. "How would you know Cisco was almost my boyfriend?"

"I've always been there with you, Belén," Carlton said like it should've been obvious. "I couldn't believe you were actually going on a date with that STAR Labs twit."

"You're mad," Belén came to the conclusion fairly fast, but Carlton went on like she hadn't spoken.

"I was relieved that you called it off but _now_ I see you're getting a little cozy with the other one - the one you broke up with me for?"

"Hey!" Belén leaned forwards on her chair. "I broke up with you because of _you_. Don't flatter yourself by blaming others. You were verbally abusive, Carlton. You wanted to control every aspect of my life and I decided that I didn't want that kind of person at my side."

"I loved you-"

"Uuum," Belén had to cut him off there, "Need I remind you that the last thing you said to me was I would pay for breaking up with you? That's not love."

"I got over it - you know how impulsive I am sometimes."

Belén shook her head. "You're actually crazy. I mean, before you were abusive and controlling...now you can add 'crazy' to the list. And stalker. Definitely adding 'stalker' to the list."

"This is your fault!" Carlton rose from his chair, angrier than ever.

" _My_ fault? How is this _my_ fault!?"

"You broke up with me!" Carlton shouted in her face, startling her momentarily. "I wouldn't have had the need to do any of this stuff had you just stuck by me!"

"You're not throwing this on me, Carlton. You're crazy! Now let me go!" Belén tugged on the rope binding her to the chair.

Carlton had himself a good laugh as he bent down in front of Belén, putting his hands on her knees. "You're not going anywhere, Belén. Right now, things are a bit hectic in the city to move you but when things calm down we're out of here. I _promise_ you."

~ 0 ~

"WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS GUY!?" Barry's voice boomed in the cortex room, currently losing his mind with the revelation of Belén's 'stalker' and thus kidnapper.

Cisco and Caitlin were by the desk trying to figure out where Carlton could've possibly taken Belén. Despite telling Barry to calm down, well...it was not happening.

"I don't understand why he would take her!" Barry paced back and forth in front of the desk. "I mean, I sort of figured on my own that Belén had to have broken up with him but...I mean...what?" he stopped pacing to face his friends, expecting some answers.

Caitlin looked over to Cisco, both assuming that Belén had not told Barry the reason why she and Carlton had broken up in the first place. It appeared now they would have to do it on behalf of Belén.

"Guys?" Barry noticed the exchange of looks between the two. "You know something, I know you do. What is it?"

Caitlin pursed her lips together and Cisco avoided Barry's looks by delving deep into work on the computer.

"Look, I guess Belén didn't tell you anything because...she didn't want to make you uncomfortable," Caitlin began to reason, throwing a glance at Cisco for some help.

"Why?" Barry asked.

"He and Bells had a fallout during your comatose months," Cisco, thankfully, picked up where Caitlin had left off. "They got into a fight and somewhere in there Carlton insulted you and...Bells snapped. She just broke up with him."

Barry was, of course, taken aback by the bit of news. Belén had never mentioned anything to him about what happened between her and Carlton. Honestly, Barry didn't want to bring up that horrid relationship just to be nosy. Now he was regretting it. Had he known about how Carlton and Belén broke up then maybe he would have thought about Carlton being the culprit before he actually went after Belén.

"It's no big deal, she just didn't like that he'd gone and insulted someone who couldn't defend them self at the moment," Caitlin tried to ease the awkward air around them. "Anyone would have done the same."

"Okay," Barry ran a hand through his hair. "So, then...so what happened afterwards?"

"Well, after the huge drama with her family, and Carlton finally stopping his attempts of getting her back...he just sort of...disappeared," Cisco said.

"What do you mean 'disappeared'?" Barry knew that no one ever just 'disappeared' for the hell of it. There were always specific reasons, and intentions. He was terrified of what Carlton's intentions had been.

"He resigned from Mercury Labs," Caitlin explained. "Belén heard it from her Dad. Carlton just resigned. After that, he disappeared."

"We thought it was a way to avoid seeing Belén," Cisco shrugged. "Maybe he'd gotten tired of following her and stuff..."

"Clearly, that's not what happened," Barry threw him a sharpened look.

"Clearly," agreed Cisco with a small nod.

"We need to look him up," Barry concluded. "We need to know everything he did after quitting his job. There has to be something that can help us figure out where he took Belén."

"On it," went both Cisco and Caitlin.

~ 0 ~

"RAYAN!" Angie screamed as her lamp went flying in the air, crashing at the wall. "You're paying for that one!"

Rayan didn't care and just plonked himself down on her couch, hands covering his face. "My sister is missing and all you care about is your stupid lamp!?"

Angie crossed her arms, not at all affected by the news considering it was costing her actual money. "You throwing my furniture around isn't going to bring back your stupid sister-"

Rayan jumped up to his feet and pointed at her with a threatening finger. "Insult my sister one more time, I dare you."

Angie raised an eyebrow but was not stupid enough to engage in a fight against a telekinetic. It was clear as day that Rayan was improving his powers and even unlocking new sides.

"Well-" Maritza's voice broke them apart to reveal she was already inside the apartment, just by the doorway, "-does this mean this is the end of this lovely couple already?"

Angie rolled her eyes and walked away from Rayan who slowly lowered his finger. "Your brother is being a complete child."

"Yes, Rayan's always had a bit of a temper," Maritza stepped over the glass pieces of the lamp on the floor, also noticing several picture frames shattered by the coffee table.

"My sister is missing!" Rayan shouted like it should be enough to justify his power outbursts.

"And you need to control yourself," Maritza responded in a louder, more authoritative, voice. "I've already got my friend working on finding possible locations."

"The one that helped us rob Belén's things?" Angie inquired. "He doesn't talk much, does he?"

"He doesn't know you," Maritza corrected.

"And I don't know him so therefore I don't trust him," Rayan shrugged.

"Unfortunately you're not the only one with opinions," Maritza defended her position quite calmly. "I trust him, and he's good with technology too so it wouldn't hurt to give him a chance. He already proved he could steal efficiently, alright?"

"I just...I want to find my sister, Maritza," Rayan truthfully said, softening even. "I may not be able to talk to her anymore but I will always make sure she's okay."

Maritza nodded. "I know."

~ 0 ~

"I have to ask, were you in league with that purple woman that attacked me outside CC Pictures?"

Carlton scoffed and turned back to Belén. "That robber with the purple powers?" Belén nodded her head. "No. I've been following you for some time, Belén. I was calculating for the right moment to take you and it so happened that this woman and her little band of robbers gave me the perfect chance. Right now I'm assuming the cops think they have you."

"If you've been following me this whole time then why'd you wait so long?" Belén inquired. "I mean, there were chances, I'm sure of it. Why wait?"

Carlton snorted. "You would think, right?" he came back to take a seat in front of her. "But you're more sociable than I remember. If it wasn't your idiot friend Nina, then it was that annoying barista, Iris. Or sometimes that blabber mouth of Cisco. Oh, but let's not forget the one you seem so comfortable with, and the reason we broke up, Barry. And even then, in the nights...you were meeting with a special little someone, huh?"

Belén failed to hide her shock. He knew about the meetings with the Streak!?

Carlton laughed at her. "I mean, I was up and ready to take you during the nights you snuck out but then I got a little curious, you know? Where was goody two-shoes Belén going at such a late hour? I followed you...and I saw you with that red streak everyone's been talking about."

"You were there? Every single time?"

"Course not, but I was for a good part of them. What were you two talking about that had you swooning?"

" _That_ is none of your business! And for your information I wasn't swooning!" Belén exclaimed, but her face was warming up.

"Tell that to someone else, please," Carlton laughed again. "But really, if you want someone with freaky powers, rest assured I can deliver."

"I'm not interested in whatever - wait," Belén stopped once she processed his words. "What do you mean?" she looked Carlton up and down. "Do you...do you have..."

Carlton moved over to a tattered couch. "Observe. I'm not the man I was before," he grabbed one of the cushions from the couch and Belén was horrified to see the cushion be devoured by some sort of bright, orange state.

"What the...what _is_ that?" she watched the cushion disappear into nothing.

Carlton smirked and neared the coffee table. The moment his fingers made contact with the table it began to melt.

It was _acid_.

Acid ate at the edge of the table, slowly gobbling it up entirely until it was just bits and pieces crumbled at the floor.

"You were affected by the Particle Accelerator explosion too," Belén whispered in both surprise and tremendous fear. "T-tell me you can control that..."

"Of course I can, I'm not an idiot," Carlton walked back to her. "I didn't quite understand where these powers came from but...I suppose it was related to what I worked on during that night."

"Th-the Particle Accelerator gave people some powers and-and you're one of them," Belén said so quietly, still unable to accept it. "You're...you're a metahuman."

"A what now?" Carlton raised an eyebrow.

"It's...it's what the Streak says they're called - the people like you. They're called metahumans."

"Hm, not bad, I suppose," Carlton returned to his seat in front of her. "So, you see? If you want someone with powers, I can be that man."

"I don't want you, Carlton," Belén whispered. "And whatever you're thinking of, it's not going to work."

Carlton chuckled condescendingly at her. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

"Because the cops are going to find me, and if they can't, then the Streak will. I know they will," Belén said, completely sure of her words.

"You're not going back to the, Belén. Don't you see that?" Carlton cupped her face, feeling her shaking under his touch. "I realized that breaking up was a terrible decision and I want us to be together again. But-" he patted her cheeks and straightened up, "-I do recognize that you've made some rather intelligent friends with some power, so we may be here for a bit more than I intended."

"For such an intelligent person you sure are acting pretty stupid," Belén remarked, trying to mask her fear with boldness.

"Oh, I've calculated all this perfectly. I assure you Annah-Belén, you won't be going home ever again."

"We'll see," Belén challenged.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin, Cisco and Barry had continued to work on finding everything could on Carlton. Dr. Wells had come in and of course offered to help them.

"Now are you sure there isn't a connection between him and the purple woman that's been sighted?" Wells asked after pulling up said purple woman's profile on his computer.

"Believe me, I've checked," Cisco said, rather disappointed. "Purple girl is my ultimate mystery metahuman girl."

"Please don't tell me you have a crush on her," Caitlin shot him a crinkled-nose look. "Because, on behalf of Belén, I'll hit you."

Cisco shook his head fast. "Of course not!"

"But we still have to find her and put her in the pipeline," Barry reminded them all. "Just...not right now."

"As for Carlton, there's nothing on him," Caitlin returned to work. "I mean, he formally presented his resignation to Mercury Labs. After that, there's no record of him acquiring some other job - at least not in the same profession."

"But I doubt Carlton would work as a waiter," Cisco joked mildly. "His apartment was rented to some new folks after he just stopped paying rent. And his family hasn't heard from him in quite a while."

"So he basically disappeared…" Barry thought for a moment, his mind wandering back to the very first day he fought a metahuman, "...just like Mardon brothers…"

"What?" Cisco caught the last part and frowned. "What about them?"

"Think about it," Barry began to pace, voicing his thoughts out loud, "Clyde Mardon was thought to be dead but the whole time he was just hiding out making petty robberies with his metahuman abilities."

"Are you suggesting Carlton is a metahuman, Mr. Allen?" Wells mused on the idea, of course believing it could have some truth.

"It's a possibility I'm willing to bet on," Barry nodded, the new idea causing his insides to churn with more fear. "Which means we need to be out there, searching for Belén before he hurts her."

"I already stopped by the station to give them the clear footage of Carlton," Wells reminded, "Which means that they're going to start looking for him very soon."

"It's not enough!" Barry snapped, although it wasn't directed at Wells. He was just angry with himself because he was the reason Belén had been so easy to catch. "I got Bells into this situation-"

"No you didn't-" Caitlin began but Barry wasn't going to let anyone convince him otherwise.

"Yes, I did! The reason she was out on the street was because _I_ took her phone. If she had her phone she would've been inside-"

"Where the two crooks that broke in would've probably taken her," Caitlin finished for him. "No matter what, Carlton was after her. He was just waiting for the right moment. There's nothing we can for now except wait and see what the police comes up with."

As much as it pained him, Barry knew Caitlin was right. Phone or no phone, Carlton had already been planning on coming for Belén. It just sickened him that he had to let Belén stay with that guy while he himself did nothing.

~ 0 ~

Night turned to day, and morning to afternoon...and there was still no news about Belén.

Iris had no idea how she was managing to work without spilling coffees when her mind buzzed with the different outcomes this entire kidnapping could have. It didn't get any better when she saw Barry coming in with that grim look on his face. She was counting on him to give her some good news!

She hurriedly left the pot of coffee and rushed to meet him. "Hey, is there-"

"Nothing," Barry mumbled and went for the counter for a much needed coffee. He had decided that 'doing nothing' didn't work for him. So, he spent the entire night speeding through the city trying to find Belén on his own.

It didn't work.

"This is so frustrating!" Iris growled and went behind the counter to set up his usual. "Carlton was a bad guy from the start, and when Belén finally broke up with him I was soooo relieved. I thought: 'maybe now she'll finally meet someone good enough for her'." Iris deeply sighed and turned to Barry. "This is just the tip of the iceberg for her."

"Not just for her…" Barry had turned his head towards the doors where Belén's older sister, Maritza, holding the hand of her four year old son, walked in.

"Maritza," Iris' eyebrows raised in surprise. Maritza didn't tend to visit Jitters seeing as she lived on the other side of the city.

"Hi Iris," Maritza greeted with a dim smile, "Barry," she acknowledged.

"How are you?" Iris felt dumb to ask but what else could she say at a moment like this?

"My husband died, my brother died, and now my sister is missing," Maritza shook her head. "I'm not doing so well."

"My Dad's on the case, and he's not letting it go until he finds her," Iris promised her.

"I know, and we're all really appreciative of it." Maritza sighed and looked up at the menu. "I just came in for my Dad's sake." She would leave the part out of her doing her own tasks to find her sister. "My mother's not coming in until tomorrow so Dad's taking it upon himself to commandeer this kidnapping from home."

"No sleep," Barry remarked, knowing exactly how that felt.

"Yeah," Maritza nodded.

"Mommy," Maritza's son, Axel, tugged on her sleeve. "Milk? Can I have the milk?"

"Yes, sweetie," Maritza looked at Iris pleadingly. "I don't know what my Dad usually gets…"

"Espresso," Iris smiled and got on the job.

"Milk!" Axel exclaimed and inched closer to the counter, barely tall enough to look above it. "Iris, can I have some milk!"

Iris smiled at the boy. "And milk for Axel, of course." She brought back Barry's coffee first while Maritza's espresso was finishing up. "I was just telling Barry how unbelievable this entire thing is," Iris went back and got started on that milk. She picked up a carton and poured some into a foam cup.

"Carlton was such a sweet guy," Maritza began but she was surprised by the loud scoffs Iris and Barry gave. "What…?"

"He was _awful_ ," Barry began, and Iris agreed with a 'mhm'.

"What? No he wasn't," Maritza made a face, but Iris went on.

"Yes, he was. He was verbally abusive towards your sister, very controlling and overall just rude." Iris set down the foam cup of milk which Axel immediately fussed to get. "I'm a witness, Barry's a witness, and I'm sure Bells' other college friends are too. I'm glad your father finally saw it too."

"Are...are you serious?" Maritza slowly picked up the foam cup for Axel, her eyes only flickering from Iris to Barry. "He never acted remotely rude to her when he was around…"

"Because you're Belén's family. He's rude but he's not an idiot," Iris shrugged. "The day of the Particle Accelerator, Barry and I had to defend Belén from him. Barry made him leave."

"This is all knew to me," Maritza blinked with wide eyes. "I...I can't believe it…"

"Carlton may have been a scientist with money - hell, even _I'd_ swoon for one of his family's many vacation homes - but he was goddamn awful to Belén. I hope he rots in jail when he gets captured."

Barry's mind had frozen after Iris' words, and replayed them over and over. There was a clicking and suddenly he was bolting out of the coffee place, ignoring the women's calls for him.

~ 0 ~

"Eat," Carlton ordered for the tenth time but Belén refused to open her mouth to be spoon fed the takeout Chinese food he'd gotten. "Belén, I swear to God you better open your mouth or I will shove it in the hard way."

Belén glared at him and silently opened her mouth. She chewed the disgusting the food, thinking of the right moment to…

"We'll be leaving after this," Carlton warned. "I don't know if they've figured out our hiding place but I surely won't be sticking around to find out." He spoon-fed her again and caressed her face. "Have you missed me like I've missed you?"

Belén spit her food in his face.

"Agh!" Carlton let the plate drop to the floor as he jumped up and frantically cleared his face. Belén smirked, enjoying watching him rubbing off her chewed bits of noodles. "You stupid bitch!"

"Definitely a way to get me back," Belén finally spoke up. "I will never love you, Carlton. This entire thing is a waste of time. Leave on your own and let the police find me here. I won't say anything about you."

Carlton had grabbed a towel nearby and was cleaning his face off. "I don't plan on leaving you behind, Belén. You're coming with me."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are! I'm not leaving you here with those idiots you call friends!"

"They're my friends and they've been kinder to me than _you_ have ever been since we met!"

"They don't know you-"

"YES THEY DO!" Belén erupted into zealous shouts, ignoring his raging glares. "They know more about me than you ever did! Each of them understands me, they help me, they love me. You never did! All you cared about was whether I'd make it to your stupid job parties!"

Carlton lost it and shot a beam of deadly acid. Belén shut her eyes thinking it would be hitting her. Instead, it passed right beside her and hit the wall. Belén heard the hissing noise and glanced over her shoulder, relieved it hadn't touched her.

"One more word and I will shoot _you_ this time," Carlton threatened. Belén gulped and said no more.

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe we didn't think about this," Cisco cursed himself for being so stupid but nonetheless worked fast with Caitlin to look through the nearest vacation homes Carlton's family owned.

"Is there anything?" Barry had come back into the room wearing his suit without the mask. He was just waiting for them to finish and tell him where Belén was so he could go get her.

"Not yet," Caitlin said without lifting her eyes off the screen.

"Barry, are you sure you want to do this?" Dr. Wells came into the room with Joe beside him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Barry asked, confused.

"Because you're too emotional and that does not pair up well in a fight."

"He's right, Barry," Joe gave him the same stern look Wells had. "I say the best thing to do is bring whatever Caitlin and Cisco find back to the station."

"And if it turns out that Carlton does have metahuman abilities?" Barry challenged, finding this entire conversation pointless. He was going and that was that.

"Got it!" Cisco exclaimed triumphantly, instigating Barry to leave the conversation. In a flash he was standing behind Cisco's chair. "Turns out, there's this ranch-like home the family owns just outside the outskirts of the city. The family's been trying to rebuild it for some time now so I'm guessing it's pretty much abandoned."

"And perfect for hiding," Barry nodded. "Great, give me the exact location."

~ 0 ~

"Don't touch me! Don't!" Belén frantically shouted against Carlton's harsh touches while he tried to unbind her from her chair.

"I'm trying to free you, you idiot! We have to go!"

"Haven't you got the memo? I don't want to go anywhere with you!"

"Let me just-"

"I SAID NO!"

"ENOUGH!" Carlton roared and threatened her with a hand drenched in acid in front of her face, scaring her dead still. "We're leaving and whether you do it walking on uninjured feet or not is _your_ choice."

Belén had enough of this cowardice, both from herself and Carlton. She was stronger than she looked, and she could defend herself...in a way. Well...okay, so she had never actually been in a situation where she was in necessity to use such defense moves…

"Let's go," Carlton had set her free from the wrists and ankles.

"Where are we going?" Belén demanded, eyeing the threatening hand beside her.

"I was thinking Starling City for now, but then Europe. I've always loved Europe."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Belén tried fighting against him despite the acidic hand problem.

"Belén don't think I won't do it!"

"Do it you coward! But I can't guarantee there won't be hell to pay for it!"

"Belén!"

"I said NO!" Belén screamed and, without thinking, she thrust a suddenly-green hand towards Carlton. A vine was released and had thrown Carlton a good distance onto the floor. Belén's eyebrows raised up as she stared at her hand. "N-n-n-n-o, go away..."

Carlton's eerie laughter broke her from thoughts for a moment. He was melting the vine with his acid but his eyes were glued on Belén. "Well, I can say that out of everything...I was not expecting _that_ ," he pointed at Belén's still-green hand. She quickly hid it behind her back, eyes now wide open. "You're one of us, aren't you? One of those...metahumans?"

"Shut up," Belén warned, swallowing hard.

"But you're not in control of them yet," Carlton was quick to notice. He could see that her hand was still green, although it had lightened its shade. "What are you, hm? What can you do?"

"St-stay back, Carlton," Belén motioned him with her green hand to stay in place, but the man kept nearing her. "I mean it! I don't...I don't know to what extent these things can get to, alright?"

"We can find out together," Carlton formed a deep smirk that just scared the crap out of Belén.

"I think _not_!" she stepped backwards.

"Don't be scared, you're one of us-"

"I don't know what I am but I'm sure as hell I am nothing like _you_."

"Oh yeah?" Carlton had come up to face her. He was towering her but Belén was upholding his stare.

"I don't kidnap people, I don't force them to leave with you against their wills. So yeah, I'm not like you."

"I say you are!" Carlton grabbed her by the wrists and purposely released some light acid on her skin in an attempt to weaken her. Belén groaned and tried pushing his hands away from her. "With good medical attention, we can get this all fixed up, but we have to go _now_."

"OW! OW! OW! I said _no_!" Belén's skin rapidly shifted between her regular color into the emerald green. "Get away from me!" Vines wrapped around her arms and spread to her hands, blasting Carlton away from her. As quick as they'd appeared, they disappeared. "Now would be a really good time to have you it in my control," she mumbled to herself.

"What abilities _do_ you own my dear?" Carlton was struggling to get free from the vines despite using his acidic properties, but Belén was not going to give him the satisfaction of giving up so easily.

Belén felt something strange inside her, like a great wave of impulse - it was an impulse that she just couldn't control. "None of your business!" she thrust another vine forwards but Carlton rolled to the side and dodged it. "Stay still!" she screamed and raised her hands to then drop them, at the same time slamming vines down on the ground. Carlton had leaped towards the wall and narrowly avoided the hit.

Carlton shot acid over a good part of the vines, successfully cutting them off and making the rest sling back to Belén's palms. His next aim were her hands, seeing as they were her primary tools with her "abilities". But Belén saw his movements and jumped to the side, falling against an empty bookshelf.

There was a wild look in her eyes as she growled and raised a hand again. Carlton didn't waste a moment and shot acid directly at it. Belén screeched when it hit her palm and she quickly clutched her hand. The wild look was gone, along with the blotches of green skin, and now a desperate Belén had scrambled up to her feet to make a good old fashioned escape

"If you're not leaving this place with me then you're not leaving at all!" Carlton warned and thrust a hand up to the chandelier Belén was about to pass.

Belén screamed as it fell right off the ceiling and nearly crushing her in the process. She turned around, furious and in pain from the shards of glass that had grazed (and some stuck) to her body, as well as the acidic injuries she already contained. "You are insane! How did I _ever_ go out with you!?"

Carlton was making his way towards her again when a breeze picked up from nowhere. But Belén recognized it instantaneously. "You came," her voice went soft as she looked back to 'the Red Streak' standing at the doorway.

There was an immediate relief washing over Barry just seeing her standing and _alive_. But that soon went to hell when Carlton attacked again. He rammed her against the wall, the intensity of the attack knocking her out cold. But she went down hissing again with the acid hands touching her arms.

"Did you find her?" Barry heard Cisco's voice from the earpiece but didn't respond on account of him speeding Carlton away from Belén and slamming him to the floor.

"I think he found her," Caitlin remarked then, probably hearing the loud noise of the slam.

"I heard about you," Carlton wickedly smiled at the metahuman currently holding him by his hoodie. "The Red Streak - that's what they call you right?"

"Why did you take her!?" Barry demanded through a modulated voice and with a blurred face.

"She was my girlfriend and I wanted her back. As you can see, it's none of your concern."

"It is _all_ of my concern!"

Carlton wasted no more time talking and exposed his acidity powers on Barry's chest. The red clad metahuman yelped and stumbled back as the acid penetrated through the suit and onto his skin. On a whim, he glanced back at Belén's lying body and saw the noticeable acid burns on her arms. Carlton had dared to use his powers on her as well.

"She wouldn't listen," Carlton said calmly, seeing where Barry's gaze had fallen to.

"So you threw _acid_ to her!?" Barry was fuming by this point.

"Barry-" Dr. Wells voice came in, "-your life signs indicate some sort of chemical infiltration, what's going on?'

Barry didn't bother to answer as he went in to punch Carlton. He had to continuously dodge the acid throws but with his speed it wasn't that hard of a task. He kicked Carlton from behind and shoved him to the floor. Just when he thought he would finally punch him hard enough to knock him out, a deep purple mass was shot Barry's way and pinned him against a wall.

Barry looked down at the gumbo-like material that wouldn't let him off the wall. Carlton too looked confused, but nonetheless grateful for the apparent struck of luck.

"Looks like I'm taking my girlfriend after all," he smirked and scrambled to his feet when he was knocked against the opposite wall by a second throw of purple mass.

Plasticine strode into the place, looking blank despite the upper hand she already had.

" _You_?" now Barry was utterly lost. He had made the point that this woman was not connected to the case but...could they have been wrong?

"Barry?" Cisco's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Yo, what happened!? Do you have Carlton?"

"Not...exactly..." Barry's eyes were glued to the purple woman. "It's her, Cisco. That purple woman - she's here."

Plasticine smirked. Rayan had, had to swallow his words when her friend had managed to find out that one of Carlton's family homes had been left nearly abandoned outside the city. "Are those fans you're talking to? Well, if so, I'd like to go ahead and point out that I _do_ have a name. Plasticine." She walked to where Carlton who was barely getting on his feet. She pinned him down with her boot. "There is a message for those with powers who go after the humans," she lowered her hand.

"Wow, I'm just hitting the jackpot with so many people with powers," Carlton laughed to himself. "What's your name sweetheart?"

Plasticine arched a hidden eyebrow and shot her famous purple mass at him, pinning him to the ground. The difference was it didn't stop just above his shoulders and knees like Barry, it meant to encase him entirely.

"You can't kill him!" Barry exclaimed, using his speed to break through the surprisingly strong mass.

"You'll find I can do as I please," Plasticine retorted angrily. "This isn't about you so please shut up. You're lucky that I'm choosing to leave you alone for the moment."

"Gonna have to do better than that!" Carlton shouted and shot acid her way.

Plasticine ducked but never desisted with her purple mass. She kept releasing it with one hand and to get the job done quicker, she moved her hand's direction so that it went just at his mouth.

"No, STOP!" Barry shouted, completely horrified as Carlton found himself asphyxiating with the toxic mass. He was incredibly furious with the Carlton but death was not an option here, not when there was an adequate prison for metahumans now.

Plasticine walked closer to Carlton, the man now gagging. "We may be of a different kind now, but we don't harm the ones we don't need to." She stopped shooting when Carlton stopped moving. She turned to Barry, half smirking. "You're doing well for this city, but if you don't want to end up like this poor man, I suggest you hang up the suit."

"Who the hell are you?" Barry finally broke free from his prison.

"Plasticine. Take the girl to a hospital, and heed my warning. Next time, I'll be aiming for _you_."

She calmly walked out of the building, knowing he would be far too focused with helping Belén to even think about following after her.

Guessing correctly, Barry made a dash for Belén. "Guys, I've found Belén," he announced, never realizing he hadn't even talked to them till then.

"You want to explain what was all we heard?" Caitlin demanded in her stern motherly tone.

"Can't it wait till later?" Barry looked around while gently scooping Belén into his arms.

"We heard slams, and voices, so of course not," went Cisco with a huff.

"Barry-" came the actual adult of the group, Dr. Wells, "-bring Belén to the hospital then come back to the lab."

"Got it," Barry nodded and moved to leave when something caught his eyes.

He hadn't noticed before the bright green scraps of...vines? What were they doing on the floor? There were no plants nearby - the place was barely furnished! Carlton had used only acid, and the Plasticine woman used her purple masses. So where'd the vines come from?

"You...came…" Belén's feeble voice brought Barry from his thoughts. She was looking at him with a languid smile, despite him having to blur his face again.

"You really thought I wouldn't?" Barry was caught up with her infectious smile to keep thinking. "What kind of hero would I be?"

"Thank you," Belén chuckled. "Do you think...you could take...me...home?"

"I've got a much better idea," Barry promised and sped out of the house.

~ 0 ~

When Belén woke up again, she found herself surrounded by her father, sister and nephew. The light beeping sound beside her and the faint pricking she felt in one of her hands made her realize she was in a hospital.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel clapped excitedly and was quickly shushed by his mother. "Sorry..."

"Oh thank God, Belén, you had us scared to death," her father sighed with immense relief.

"We're glad you're okay, sis," Maritza smiled softly. "Mom's coming in first thing tomorrow, she promised."

Belén smiled at them all before letting her uncomfortable state known.

"You had a couple of chemical burns but Nina said you should be fine," Maritza explained while Belén raised her hand that had been injured with said chemicals.

"I feel tired…" Belén languidly exhaled.

"Sugar levels are down too," her father explained. "Probably from lack of eating."

"Carlton force fed me stupid Chinese food…"

"Did he do anything to you, sweetheart?" David asked, his eyes filled with terrible fear. "Did he hurt you?"

"It's okay, Dad. The Red Streak saved me," Belén patted his hand gently. "The worst I got were the acid burns, but other than that, I'm fine."

"Nina said you would have to take it easy," Maritza said in a warning tone, quite sure her sister would ignore the instructions.

"Yeah, yeah, Nina always exaggerates," went the expected response.

"We mean it, Belén," their father said sternly. "Linda was more than happy to accommodate you for a small vacation, and your school understood perfectly." Belén opened her mouth to refuse but that look on her father's face was already telling her it was all set. "It's just for a couple weeks, okay?"

Belén sighed and turned her head away. "Will I ever get to graduate?"

"Auntie Belén," Axel came up to her side, his small hands reaching for her good hand that had the IV needles sticking through her skin. "Do you want to color with me?"

Belén smiled at her nephew and his innocence. "Not right now, Axel. But since I'll be on house arrest I can assure you we'll be doing a lot of coloring later."

"Belén," her father scolded her playfully, making her chuckle.

There was light knock on the already open door of the room, interrupting the family's moment.

"Can we come in?" Iris sheepishly waved a hand, speaking on behalf of the group behind her.

"Sure," David smiled and got up from his chair, signaling Maritza to do the same. "We'll give you guys a moment."

Maritza agreed, there were too many people in the room and they were sure to get a scold from Nina. She took Axel's hand and started for the doors.

"Nightie-night, auntie Belén," Axel waved as he walked along with his mother.

Belén smiled and tried waving back, but her arms were still sore from the acid burns.

"Thank God you're okay, Belén," Iris rushed to her friend's side.

"You gotta quit giving us heart attacks," Caitlin agreed, coming to the end of the bed.

"I can honestly say I will do my best," Belén half-joked.

"How are you feeling?" Barry asked in a much more serious, yet soft, tone. He took Maritza's place on her right.

"I don't know, honestly. My ex-boyfriend kidnapped me, had acid powers, and used them on me. Not to mention the woman in purple that attacked me before Carlton got to me." Belén decided to leave the part out of where she'd tried fighting Carlton on her own with those...special powers of hers.

"Do you know if they were working together?" asked Cisco. It would be better to know for sure if they'd been right in suspecting Plasticine hadn't worked along with Carlton.

"No," Belén shook her head. "Carlton was pretty clear on that."

"And you believed him?" Iris reluctantly asked.

"It makes sense, Iris," Belén sleepily exhaled, the drugs pumping into her blood nearing a second round effect. "I've...been looking for Rayan, and I guess I stuck my nose where it didn't belong."

"That's why the two people came into CC Pictures looking for your things," Cisco realized.

"The woman...she said...she said that Rayan was dead," Belén croaked, her eyes filling with tears.

"Hey, hey hey, you don't listen to those people," Barry gently garnered her attention. "At least, wait until you're better and then we can all think about it rationally."

"Yeah, right now just get better," Iris took David's chair and sat down. "Hey," the smirk on her face warned Belén subjects were about to change and fast, "is it true that the Red Streak was there?"

Unknowingly, the STAR Labs employees nervously looked at each other.

Belén broadly smiled and nodded her head. "In the end, he was there." She saw no harm in telling Iris of the Red Streak's appearance of that moment.

"Really? What was he like? What does he look like?"

"Iris-" Barry shot her a warning look, "-she needs to rest."

"It's fine," Belén assured him, chuckling. "Iris, he's completely red. Like, this amazing shade of crimson."

Iris laughed. "I figured. Did he talk to you? Did you say anything?"

"Thank you," Belén said like it were obvious. "He saved me, so naturally that was my response."

"I would love to meet him," Iris playfully nudged Belén. "You got to meet him."

"Get kidnapped and you can meet him too," Belén giggled to herself and turned her head.

Caitlin smiled in amusement. "I think the drugs are making effect again."

"Bells," Barry called to her quietly, not wanting to scare her, "I'm sorry you were taken."

Belén gave him a look. "It's all Carlton's fault - _he_ kidnapped me." A small smile spread across her lips. "You know, a log time ago, Carlton said the Particle Accelerator would bring nothing good. He was wrong. It brought me new, incredible friends. I met Cisco, I met Caitlin and I met you, Barry."

"And it gave us a new hero, too," Iris added in.

Belén hummed in agreement. "You're all my good things."

"Belén, you probably need to sleep," Cisco chuckled at her loopiness.

"Cisco, don't ever tell a girl what she needs to do," she playfully narrowed her eyes at him. "Besides, now that I'm on basic house arrest, that's probably all I'll be doing."

"Don't forget your tutoring," Barry reminded.

Belén groaned and shut her eyes. "Don't talk about Biology tonight, Barry, _please_."

"No, no, it's fine. Look what I got!" he fumbled to pull something from jeans' pocket.

"Are those... _Legos_?" Iris scowled at Barry.

Belén seemed to understand instantly the intent of said Legos. "You brought the visuals…" she giggled.

"What?" Iris asked again, looking to Cisco and Caitlin for some explanation, but they were both blank of information as well.

"Now there'll be no excuse for you not to understand Biology," Barry mocked a warning.

Belén lightly laughed again, but her eyes grew tired soon after. "If you don't mind...I'm just...I'm just going to close my eyes...for a little bit..."

Her friends smiled as she fell asleep under the new dosage of medical drugs.

* * *

 **Author"s note:**

Soo we finally get to see a glimpse of Belén's actual powers ;) Can't wait to explore that! Next chapter we're back on the regular episodes! :)

 **For the Review:**

Thank you so much! It actually really means a lot! And I'm glad to hear you like Belén (she's my softie OC and I love her so much)! Yes, if I can I'd like to continue throughout the seasons of the Flash lol so hopefully it can happen!

* * *

Thanks to those who have read, favorite and/or followed! Leave if a thought or a comment if you'd like and see you next time guys!


	7. Without Me

"It's the same stuff," Caitlin concluded with a scrunched up nose. She, along with the the other three usual visitors of STAR Labs were staring at a computer screen on the wall holding the results of a scan Barry had brought in for them.

"Remnants of...play-doh? I still don't understand," Cisco leaned forwards on the desk, squinting his eyes at the clear results on the screen. "This is my gumbo girl? I mean...this is what she _produces_?"

Barry was the only one standing near the screen on the wall. He had his arms crossed and a very thoughtful expression on his face. "Her name is Plasticine, and her powers are...gruesome." He thought back to the moment in which he saw the woman practically asphyxiate Carlton by forcing her 'purple gumbo' down his throat. "I ran the same test a while ago for a different case. I thought it looked familiar so I compared it to this new one I took from the scene of Carlton's murder and it's an exact match. It was her. Plasticine."

"That's not the name I would've chosen," Cisco mumbled.

"She was there when I tried rescuing Belén, and she was very serious when she threatened me to stop being a 'hero'."

"It's natural for a metahuman to feel intimidated by another whose becoming a well known lifesaver," Wells tried to be reasonable.

"She wasn't like the others, though," Barry turned back to the three. "This one was put together. She didn't look like a crazy one I fight every now and then. She came with a plan that day, I just haven't figured out what it was."

Cisco pulled up the information he'd gathered on Plasticine over time. "There's been plenty of sightings of this woman around the city but no real pattern - well, she appears for a couple of robberies then disappears. She also doesn't tend to leave behind injured nor dead." Caitlin scoffed and threw him a sharp look that told him he should reconsider that detail. "Alright, well, she used to."

"Well, whatever her tactics are, we need to find her and put her away before she does hurt someone," Wells said, eyeing Barry's strangely pensive stance. "Something else on your mind, Mr. Allen?"

"...yeah," Barry nodded, tone suddenly quiet. "When I had to go back to the crime scene of Plasticine & Carlton to take evidence, I saw these...cut up vines sprawled around."

"Probably from the mess you all made when you were fighting," Cisco said obviously.

"I would think so too, except there was no plants nearby. The room wasn't even properly furnished. I took samples and it was weird because the results were parts of an Azalea flower."

"Azalea?" went Cisco and Caitlin, both of their minds quickly recalling the person that most loved the flower.

"When I got there, as the Streak, Bells was standing in a defense stance against Carlton…" Barry continued, but his suspicion had been pretty much voiced out already, "...I didn't think about it in that moment...but…"

"Are you trying to say that...you think...you think _Belén's_...a... _metahuman_ …?" Cisco practically gaped at him, the disbelief written on his face. He had never once thought about since he met Belén. She was just so... _normal_. It couldn't be.

"It could be a possibility…"

"No!" Cisco shook his head. "I think we would have noticed! The _hospital_ would've noticed when she was last brought in."

"Not if someone covered it up," Caitlin interjected, thinking it crazy to even be talking about this but then again what wasn't crazy nowadays?

"Nina," Barry quickly pointed. "It would have to be Nina! She took care of Bells from the moment she was hit by the Particle Accelerator explosion, and this recent kidnapping. If Bells does have these abilities then Nina is in on it."

"Do you think that's why...Belén has been having these weak moments, then?" Caitlin suddenly asked, making everyone think back to these moments of 'dizziness' and weakness that they'd witnessed Belén have. Each time she would just discard it as student's burnout, sleepless nights, or lack of sleep.

"If she does possess abilities they could have very well come with side-effects like Barry," Wells joined in. "But if they have continued on without the proper help they could be turning more severe for her."

"Wait a minute," Cisco finally spoke above everyone else, still refusing to accept Barry's theory, "We're not even sure this is a thing - that Bells actually has powers."

"Then we need to confirm it," Barry declared.

"How?"

"Blood test?" Caitlin found herself suggesting. "If in theory she does possess these nature abilities then it would surely leave a mark in her blood." Cisco gave her a disbelieving look. "I'm only saying," she raised her hands in defense.

"The hospital would have her most recent tests," Barry theorized and glanced at Wells. "Dr. Wells, what do you say? Can we do it?"

Wells smiled, in his mind the only thing that buzzed was the fact they were nearing another milestone in the time line he already knew of. "I told you from the beginning, Barry, no one was ever holding you back from telling Belén. Though I do caution in telling her what you plan to do. Most people don't like being scanned without their knowledge."

Barry nodded, no doubt in his mind this would cause trouble later for him. But right now he only cared about discovering the truth. If Belén really was suffering from side affects of her metahuman abilities she needed to get the adequate help from STAR Labs.

~ 0 ~

"And things are just getting more and more annoying," Iris huffed loudly like a child would when their parent refused to buy them a toy. Belén just smiled as they turned for the corridor in which her professor's office was located. "I mean, you'd think being twenty five would give me a little more of adult behavior with my dad but he just refuses to talk to me ever since I told him about Eddie and I."

"Em, Iris, I think your dad is more upset by the fact you kept your relationship a secret from him."

Iris stopped and forced Belén to do so just a couple steps ahead of her. "You're supposed to be on _my_ side."

"I would be, but…"

"Belén!"

"It's like…" Belén tried coming up with a comparison, "...when I was a high school junior, I had this boyfriend and he was the total bad boy-"

" _Bells_ ," Iris smirked at her, making Belén laugh, embarrassed.

"It was a phase," she waved Iris off and continued with her story, "Anyways, my Dad warned me to stay away from him. So when he found out and I tried making my argument he gave me the cold shoulder for an entire month. He wasn't mad that I dated the guy, he was mad that I did it behind his back."

"I get the comparison, but I just can't get over the fact you dated a bad boy," Iris laughed, "I didn't know you had it in you…"

"Iris, it was just a phase," Belén looked away, completely blushing.

"Oh, I know, without a doubt," Iris said matter of factly. "Your type is more of the nerdy kind, hence you dating my Chemistry buddy-"

"He was hot," Belén shrugged.

"He was a _dork_ ," Iris rolled her eyes.

"Leave George alone."

"Oh, you know I love the guy, but it doesn't change what he was. Oh, and then there was the math genius from our Statistics class."

"Okay that one was because of _you_ , remember? _You_ set us up on a blind date!"

"I remember," Iris smirked with utter pride at her Cupid game turning out to be a complete success. "And let's not forget you almost dating Cisco, aka a STAR Lab genius. What is it with you?"

"I figured if I'm stupid I might as well date someone smart," Belén joked then knocked on her professor's office door. "Give my kids a chance, you know..." she laughed to herself.

"Well...thinking about dating anyone else right now?" Iris discreetly asked, pretending to inspect something on her index nail.

"Not sure," Belén answered with unusual quietness. "I mean, with Cisco I had to say no in the end because-"

"Because you guys were just friends, yeah - I know the story," Iris reminded.

"Yeah, but apart from that I think I'm just a little traumitized from what happened with Carlton."

"And since that was _before_ he kidnapped you..." Iris didn't even want to imagine how Belén felt thinking about her latest experiences.

"Now that he did kidnap me...let's just say it's little more complicated thinking about dating someone," Belén released a sigh. "I'm properly scared."

"Miss Palayta," a bright ginger-haired man finally opened up to her, "Here for your final?"

Belén was nervous to receive her final grade for Biology - her last class required to graduate - and gave a meek 'yes' to her professor. "I'll be just a minute," she told Iris then followed her professor inside.

Iris went over to some waiting chairs they kept nearby and pulled her cellphone to pass the time. As of late, nearly all her notifications were of the Streak that people happened to see. She couldn't help be drawn to the mysterious sights in the city. First it was the burning man, then the weather dudes, not to mention the guy that apparently turned into gas? There were only two recurring masked people - the Streak and the purple woman who occasionally robbed people. It was just one big mystery that no one was taking serious for some reason. That's why she was taking it upon herself to doc and report these mysterious people for the world to be in the know.

"Iris!" Belén squealed and came rushing out of the office, probably uncaring of the childish manner she was carrying herself with. "I passed! I actually passed!"

"You did?" Iris blinked, then felt guilty for it. Belén was too engrossed with the news to take notice of it. She waved her final exam in Iris' face, nearly smothering her with it.

"I did! Annah-Belén Palayta - that's me," Belén pointed to herself, "passed Biology with a freaking B!"

Iris laughed and pulled her friend down the hallway. She took the exam into her hands and looked at nearly all the correct answers marked. "Wow, you actually understood them...and no guessing?"

"No guessing!"

"Bells, this is it: it's the apocalypse," Iris said, dead serious. "That's it. We're all doomed now."

"Shut up!" Belén snatched her exam back, laughing again. "This just proves that Barry is actually good at teaching - oh! Barry! I need to go see him!" she turned to Iris. "I have to show him this!"

"He's probably at the station - there was another crime scene today," Iris explained, but Belén had only heard the first part.

"C'mon!" She hurried away.

~ 0 ~

As Iris suspected, Barry was in the station taking care of a recent robbery's evidence left behind. He jumped in his stool when he heard the loud call of his name.

"Bells?" He barely had gotten up when Belén and Iris showed up.

"Barry, Belén has something to tell you," Iris said in an amused tone, not even caring that her voice had been downplayed by Belén's loud one.

"I passed!" the ombre-blonde woman excitedly went across the room. "I passed my Biology's final exam!"

"Wow, that's great!" Barry laughed and got up to meet her.

"I got an actual B!"

It took a minute for it to sink in Barry's mind that his tutoring had actually helped someone, and for someone who had gone from a very low grade to a...a B!

"You got...you got...an actual..B?"

"Mhm!" Belén nodded her head, once again putting her exam in front of her so that someone else would see. She was barely containing her laugh, her feet even struggling to remain still and not bop up and down.

"You passed!" Barry exclaimed, seeming as if this was the first time he'd heard. "Congratulations!"

Belén finally laughed again and threw her arms around his neck for a hug. "I know!" In the moment, Barry had gave her a small spin.

Iris raised her eyebrows, bemused and surprised at the same time. God, she should have entered that bet with Caitlin, Cisco and Wells.

"This is completely fantastic, Bells," Barry set her back on her feet and pulled away. "I'm so happy for you, honest."

"I'm going to be graduating now," Belén said happily. "I'm going to walk the stage and get my diploma - finally! And you're coming," she suddenly warned, glancing back at Iris with the same warning finger, "And so are you."

"We're there," Iris assured her friend, and abruptly came up with her own idea. "Hey, why don't we have dinner today? In celebration?"

"Oh, we can invite Caitlin and Cisco," Barry added, Belén already nodding in agreement.

"I would love that!"

"I'll set it up," Iris offered up, laughing. She hadn't seen Belén so happy in such a long time, and sure wanted it to stay this way.

"I gotta go," Belén started backtracking from Barry. "I promised my Dad I would only go to the campus for my grade. I'll talk to him about dinner though," she looked to Iris. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"I'll text you," Iris pointed.

"Okay!" Belén squealed again. "I think I'll pass by Rayan's altar at the park and thank him."

The last comment faded both Iris' and Barry's smiles. But Belén didn't seem to notice as she rushed off.

"Do you think she's honestly stopped looking for Rayan?" Iris turned to Barry, the happy atmosphere leaving along with Belén.

"Well…" Barry sat back down at his computer desk.

Even with Belén's house arrest, their meetings between civilian and the Streak hadn't stopped. But things were not the same anymore. Belén looked overly scared whenever he touched the subject of her brother. He hammered her what was wrong, who was threatening her, but she refused to say. At one point, she declared she was no longer going to investigate. She had 'accepted' the fact Rayan was dead and she needed to move on.

That day, Barry had been so confused and concerned that he had actually appeared in her backyard (though he had checked for her father's whereabouts first). There he insisted to know why she was all of a sudden giving up on the case.

* * *

 _"I just don't get it, you asked for help," Barry was saying to a distressed Belén, as the Streak of course._

 _"Technically, **you** came to **me**!" Belén exclaimed, near tears._

 _"Bells! This isn't a joke!" Barry couldn't help get angry when she refused to open up._

 _"You're right, it's not," Belén sniffed, her gaze falling for a minute. "None of this is, and that's why it's got to stop. Stop helping me and just go back to saving others. Please."_

 _"You can't expect me to just leave this place when you're practically begging me not to help with those eyes full of fear." Barry walked towards her, but even then Belén was scared enough to backtrack the steps he took._

 _"If you don't stop - if **I** don't stop...then they're gonna go after my friends and family," Belén finally confessed, her lip quivering. Barry froze. "This woman, in purple, she-she threatened me. She said my brother was dead and that if I continued to look into his case my friends and family would be hurt. You see? I can't...I can't let anything happen to them."_

 _"This woman - was she dressed in purple?" Barry went about it gently._

 _"Mhm," Belén nodded her head, wiping her face of loose tears. "Please, don't ask me to continue when I don't want to. Because I really don't...I'm scared."_

 _And Barry could very well confirm that from his spot._

* * *

Had Belén really stopped looking for her brother? Barry was sure anymore. What he was sure of was her deep fear of anyone getting hurt because of her. That probably deferred her searches for some time.

"Possibly," he finally responded to Iris' question.

"I think we should keep a close eye on her," Iris didn't fail to warn. She walked up to the desk and set her bag down.

"Speaking of keeping a close eye on someone...Iris, is there something you want to tell me?" Barry raised an eyebrow, making Iris wonder what she'd done wrong (again). She was tired of having to come up with explanations for her actions. "Like what, Barry? There's many things going on in my life at the moment-"

"Your new _blog_ ," Barry gave her a look. He'd come to the unpleasant surprise of Iris' new blog thanks to Eddie, who wasn't so keen on the idea of his girlfriend keeping up a blog of the Streak.

"Oh, you're against it too?" Iris deeply exhaled.

"Eddie told me about it and honestly I don't think it's such a good idea…"

"But why not?" Iris challenged him. "I mean, the Streak is out there and people want to know. Plus, there's plenty of other people with these...these _powers_ , that I think people should know more about."

"Take it from someone who's been investigating the impossible since they were 11. Blogging about this is only gonna bring the crazies to your front door."

Iris rolled her eyes. "My blog is anonymous."

"All right, well, anonymous or not, it's not safe," Barry reiterated. He wished Iris could be more like Belén who kept quiet on the secrets of the city, mostly because she was shy but it was still a good trait. "You never know what kind of weirdos are out there trolling on the internet."

"I can vouch for that," a different voice, unknown to Iris, spoke up from the doorway of the lab. Iris turned around, and Barry stood up seeing the familiar blonde woman with glasses. "The internet is full of weirdos and nerd rage... Lots and lots of nerd rage," the blonde went on with a wide smile.

"Uh...Barry?" Iris felt it was the only thing she could say, considering the familiar looks being exchanged between the two.

"Hi," the blonde walked up to the two, extending a hand to Iris. "Felicity Smoak."

Iris shook her hand, politely replying back with her own name. "Iris West."

"Barry Allen," Barry awkwardly inputted his own name, chuckling afterwards. "But you both already knew that. Felicity is…"

"The girl that you met in Starling City, the computerer, right?" Iris recalled vaguely the details of that secret trip Barry had taken long ago. "You two worked on one of Barry's unexplainable cases."

Felicity nodded. "Which, long story short, was definitely explainable." She backtracked a couple of steps till she stood just under the canopy. "So the lightning came through here?"

"Uh, yeah," Barry nodded. As Felicity continued to talk, mostly with Iris, Barry would continuously send discreet looks towards his computer...which was running a blood scan of Belén.

~ 0 ~

Unfortunately, Barry hadn't been able to finish the blood scan because he had taken Felicity out to the sightings (on good account of Iris). He liked having Felicity around, she was probably the only woman who understood his 'nerd talks' as Iris put it...but at the moment there were more pressing matters than catching up. He just didn't want to be rude.

"Barry?" Felicity's voice cut into his thoughts. The blonde woman had stopped walking and turned to him after realizing she wasn't exactly being heard.

"Sorry," Barry shook his head and focused on where he was now.

They were strolling through the city park, which was packed as was usual. Barry felt guilty for having to ask Felicity to repeat herself because he wasn't listening.

Felicity laughed at him, crossing her arms. "What's with you, Barry Allen? The quiet, pensive guy is definitely _not_ the guy I met in Starling."

"Sorry, Felicity," Barry sheepishly smiled. "Lot's happened since then…"

"Mhm," Felicity nodded, suspiciously looking at him.

"What are you really doing here? I mean, it's good to see you, but do you and Oliver need something, or…"

"No, no, I came because I heard you were out of the coma and I figured that you would've called…" She raised an eyebrow then, a playful scolding look taking over her features. "...but you didn't."

Barry winced at her hard tone, scratching his head. "Right-"

"And when you _did_ -" Felicity hadn't been quite finished which again made him wince again, "-I was a little bit disappointed it was because you wanted me hack into some girl's cellphone."

"Riiiight…" Barry awkwardly put his best smile forth.

"Right," Felicity mimicked his tone before playfully whacking him on the arm. "That was not cool, Barry Allen! There I was worrying over you in your coma and only getting a forceful call from you months later!"

"It was for a very good cause!" Barry promised her.

"Like what, exactly?" Felicity leaned on her hip, arms once again crossed. "One of your vigilante missions needed higher help?"

"Yeah, actually, it did - wait," Barry froze and stared at the blonde a long while. "You...you...know…"

Felicity rolled her eyes and once again whacked him. "Of course I know. First of all, I heard you and Oliver talking on that rooftop in Starling City that night. And then you kinda get confirmation after being mysteriously asked to help hack into a cell phone."

"I'm sorry-"

"I want to see it," Felicity blurted with excitement...until she realized how they may have come out. "And by 'it' I mean your speed, in case you thought I was talking about something else, which I... which I was not. Okay."

Barry chuckled. "Okay," he assured, "you see that building?" he nodded over to a random tall building across the park.

"Uh-huh," Felicity nodded and turned to face in its direction.

"Keep your eyes on it." Barry smiled and sped off, leaving his usual wind behind. Felicity watched in amazement as the orangey red flash went around the top of the building. Before she knew it, Barry had come back and was holding his cellphone.

"You took a picture of me?" Felicity gaped and snatched the phone from him. "From the top of that building?"

"Yeah. Don't instagram that!"

"Unbelievable," Felicity looked up from the phone and laughed, until she saw the ground. "Uh, your shoes are smoking."

Barry quickly looked at his sneakers which were indeed smoking from the run. "That... that's fine. It's... it happens sometimes." He stomped to kill the smoke and then exhaled deeply. "It's why I have a friction-proof suit."

"Where did you get that?" Felicity curiously wondered.

"I'll show you," Barry took her hand and together they walked off towards STAR Labs.

Barry could have never realized he had been watched the entire time.

Feeling an overwhelming anger flourish inside, Belén crumpled her final exam in her hands. She had come to the park to see her brother's altar at the fountain but boy-oh-boy look at what she had gotten instead.

Barry Allen...running at light speed…

Almost growling, Belén stormed away.

~ 0 ~

Barry had taken Felicity to STAR Labs for her to see what really went on in the city. It was safe to say she was impressed.

"And this is where my team monitors the police bands for criminal activity. We can track anything that's happening in the city. Check this out. We've got our own satellite."

Felicity slyly smiled. "I know. You forget I've hacked into it from time to time."

Caitlin and Cisco came to greet the new visitor, who wasn't so new thanks to a wild adventure they had before meeting Barry.

"It is, of course, so wonderful to see you again, Felicity," Caitlin nervously smiled, "I'm just wondering how much of our operation she needs to know about."

"I'm really good at keeping secrets," Felicity winked, meaning to stay secretive but apparently Barry had other ideas.

"Yeah, Felicity works with The Arrow."

"Sweet!" Cisco beamed in delight, while Caitlin expressed her surprise in silence.

"And you apparently are not," Felicity shot Barry a disapproving look for his loose tongue.

"Now it's all making sense. You know who The Arrow is," Cisco said to Felicity before realizing something else. "Wait, do you-" he pointed at Barry, "-know who The Arrow is?"

"Uh... Let's just say that my team has a similar set up," Felicity gestured to the lab room, "but with... More pointy objects."

"Welcome, Ms. Smoak," Dr. Wells surprised her with his mere presence.

"Dr. Wells?" She pointed at him as if he weren't real. " _The_ Dr. Wells?"

"Please, call me Harrison, Felicity."

"Oh, you know who I am?"

Wells smiled as he came into the room, listing Felicity's accomplishments by memory. "Ranked second in the national informative technology competition at age 19, graduated M.I.T. With masters degree in cyber security and computer sciences. I know who you are. I keep an eye out for promising talent in scientific fields. It's what brought me Cisco, Caitlin, and I foresaw great things from you."

"Speaking of great things, want to see something cool?" Barry smirked towards Felicity, who couldn't help wonder what he had in mind.

Time later, the team had set up for one of Barry's practice runs on the treadmill. While the STAR Labs monitored him, Felicity watched from the side.

"How fast can he run?" she asked the others.

"He hasn't reached his top speed yet, theoretically speaking," Dr. Wells replied.

"So is he really okay?"

"His heart rate is within normal range for him," Caitlin added as a comfort, but Felicity wasn't taking it.

"No, I mean, the lightning bolt changed him. Do any of you really know how much?"

"We know a fair amount," Cisco tried to sound sure but of course there couldn't be a 100% assurance they knew all of Barry's altered genes and what the consequences would be.

"If everything about him is sped up, is he going to age faster? What would happen if he ran too fast? I mean, would he just be running, and then, poof, he's dust in a red costume?

"Everything we do here at S.T.A.R. Labs is to protect Barry Allen," Dr. Wells said. "Trust us, Felicity, he is in very good hands here."

"Want to see how fast I can run backwards?" Barry called from the other room, but almost instantly he crashed into the boxes set up against the wall for such accidents.

"Don't worry," Caitlin sheepishly smiled at Felicity who had become severely concerned, "He heals quickly too."

Felicity bit the nail of her index finger, baffled by such normality this entire thing was being taken with. Then again, where she worked the things were just as abnormal so maybe she shouldn't be so concerned.

When Barry had recovered from the small accident - and stocked the boxes back in their spots - they returned to the cortex.

"This entire place is amazing," Felicity chuckled. "I've always heard talks about it but I never thought I would see it from the inside."

"Same," Barry laughed alongside her.

" _Same_ ," went a third voice, and one that left everyone except Felicity frozen in their spots. Belén was taking a look at the room from the threshold, acting as if it were the first time she stepped foot in there. "You know," she bitterly laughed to herself, forcing her tears to stay inside, "I blame myself for being so... _stupid_!"

Felicity slowly observed the reactions in each of the people in the room. She didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on but she knew it wouldn't be ending good judging by the faces she saw.

"Bells," Barry made a step towards her but she ragingly pointed at him.

" _You_ stay where you are!" she warned. "You-you liar!"

"No, I was-"

"Be quiet!" Belén exclaimed, her eyes flickering to Caitlin and Cisco. "Now it makes sense, the both of you were lying to me the entire time. This is why you guys always looked so nervous when I walked in...the faces of guilt."

"Don't blame them," Barry finally got to cut in. "They were just following my decision. I asked them not to say anything so if there's anyone to be mad at it's _me_."

Belén crossed her arms, nodding her head. " _Fine_ ," she spat. "It goes without saying, though, dinner's cancelled."

"No - Belén!" Barry went after her, leaving a tensed atmosphere behind.

"Uhh…?" Felicity turned to the remaining three. "Who...was that?"

"Reason Barry called you before," Cisco deeply sighed.

"That's hacked girl?" Felicity jerked a thumb towards the spot where Belén had been. "I gave her a name," she shrugged after getting strange looks.

"She wasn't supposed to know," Caitlin briefly explained, thinking Barry would eventually get to it on his own.

"Though perhaps becoming her secret helper wasn't one of Barry's brightest ideas," Dr. Wells added with an unsurprised sigh. It wasn't like he foreseen the two ever learning about their true identities.

Oh, wait...

~ 0 ~

Belén flexed her hands as she waited for the elevator to come up. "Not now, don't you dare..." she checked her hands and saw spots of emerald green. "Go away!"

"B-Bells! Belén!" Barry called and she immediately crossed her arms to hide her hands from him.

"Should of used your lightning speed to catch up with me!" she angrily turned on him. "Oh wait, you were too busy keeping it a secret from me, right!"

"Look, Bells, I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not! You're only sorry you got caught!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh please! If I hadn't caught you today at the park then you would've never put yourself in front of me to tell me the truth!"

Barry stayed quiet for a minute, staring hard at her. She was wrong, she was absolutely wrong. He would've - eventually - told her. Sure it wouldn't have been soon but he would've told her one day when he felt confident enough.

"You are cruel," Belén continued on with her accusations. "You must have laughed at me many times after our meetings. Oh, I was a good entertainer I suppose."

"It was never a game, Bells," Barry said quietly. "Me helping you with your brother's case was something important to me too."

"By lying?" Belén arched an eyebrow. "You lied straight to my face! You knew how important this Streak was to me and you let me…" she paused, now feeling completely embarrassed, "... _talk_ about him like you weren't him. Your ego must have soared." Her voice lowered and signaled to what level her rage had reached. "I'm done with you."

"Belén!" Barry called but the elevator dinged open and she walked right in, still hiding her hands.

"Don't you dare follow me or I swear to God I will punch you in the face!"

Odds were, he would be punched. Barry remained right where he was and upheld her stare until the elevator closed and she was gone.

Belén had surprisingly gotten fast into her car, although perhaps most of her hastiness arised from the uncontrollable feeling she felt inside. As soon as she got into her car, she breathed rapidly in and out, balling her fists, forcing the feeling to stay inside.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down," she repeated to herself with eyes screwed shut, her face began to sport blotches of green as well, but with her focus it would shift between it and her normal skin.

~ 0 ~

"I just can't believe it!" Belén was now stomping back and forth in Nina's apartment. "He lied to me this entire time! He had me meeting him like an idiot that I am! Can you believe that, Nina!?"

The older woman was calmly sitting on her couch, reading the day's newspaper while occasionally taking a sip of her coffee. She had let Belén vent for the last hour or so, figuring it was best if there was to be some sort of resolution afterwards.

"It's all very surprising, Belén," Nina said but her tone didn't exactly portray much interest.

"Nina," Belén huffed and faced her friend, her hands on her hips, "Did you listen to anything that I just said?"

"I got the jist," Nina shrugged, glancing sideways, "Barry Allen is the Streak you have been meeting so secretly with."

"And you say it like that? All calm?"

Nina shrugged and went back to reading the newspaper.

"I don't like being lied to! And that's exactly what Barry did - what _everyone_ did to me! They lied!"

"Bells, if Barry decided not to tell you then you can't go and blame the others for not spilling a secret that wasn't theirs to tell in the first place."

Belén puffed and looked away, hating the fact Nina was right on that one.

"And-" Nina tilted her head, "-are you forgetting the fact _you_ are hiding your powers from him too?"

"There is a strict different, Nina."

"Let me hear it."

Belén angrily returned her gaze to the woman. "When I discovered my powers I thought that I was alone. Barry, Caitlin and Cisco were all normal to me. They were people who wouldn't understand what I had become. I was scared - I _am_ scared - but Barry knew the entire time of these people with powers like us. If he had come to me, as Barry and not the Streak, and told me about his powers then I would have had the courage to confide in him as well. _That_ is the difference."

Nina sighed and shifted on the couch to fully face Belén. "That's...understandable."

"Hell yes."

"But it doesn't the change the fact you're still hiding it from him now."

"Nina!"

"If you're going to be angry with someone who's in the same situation as you are you need to see it how it is."

"I don't know how you're taking this so calmly," Belén rubbed her temples, already feeling a headache beginning to form. "You realize you could've gotten help as well, right?"

Nina raised her eyebrows and lightly sighed. "You forget I don't use my powers. I don't want them."

"But don't you see?" Belén walked up to her. "If Barry told me, then I-"

"You could have said nothing," Nina sternly told her. "Because that would've been Barry's secret, and you - being his friend - would not have said anything to me about it. See? You just saw what it's like being Caitlin and Cisco. You don't tell other people's secret. So cross them off from your hit list."

Belén was left standing in the living room to think as Nina got up to head into her kitchen with her empty coffee cup.

~ 0 ~

When Barry and Felicity walked into Jitters, Iris was already half expecting them - or more specifically Barry. She walked up to them with that raised head action that told Barry she was probably in the loop of what occurred earlier. He just wondered how much in the loop she was.

"Hey, you two," Iris greeted politely for Felicity's sake. For Barry, there was no escaping the icy look she was sending. "Has Barry been showing you some of the sights in Central City?" she asked of Felicity.

Felicity smiled. "Yes, I have seen some pretty amazing things." She decided to leave out the little drama moment she witnessed.

"Really...hm…" Iris nodded her head, her gaze still locked with Barry's.

Felicity could feel the tension that was rising and wanted to be no part of it. "You know what, I'm gonna go call work, check in, make sure everything's okay. I'll be back in a second."

Iris smiled gracefully as the blonde left, and the moment she was gone she promptly smacked Barry on the arm.

"Ow!" went the metahuman, his hand flinging to his rub his injured arm.

"You want to explain to me why Belén cancelled dinner tonight?" Iris got straight to the point, finally expressing her true irritation with him. "And don't you dare lie to me and say you don't know! She sounded very upset and more so when I mentioned _your_ name! What did you do, Barry Allen?"

"Nothing," Barry raised his hands. It was clear Belén hadn't told Iris of the reason why she was upset with him - and for that he was eternally thankful - so Barry would need to come up with a plausible reason.

"I have a tray, and I'm not afraid to use it," Iris backed up to the counter where there was indeed a circular tray sitting there. "I had plans and she cancelled them based on some stupid excuse."

"Which was…?"

"That's not the important thing here," Iris snapped and ignored the low 'sorry' from Barry. "I'm confused. Earlier you two looked better than ever and now she doesn't even want to see you? What's going on?"

"...stuff," Barry found himself able to say.

"Stuff?" Iris raised an eyebrow, her glare turning dangerous.

"Yes."

"That's what you're sticking with? _Stuff_?"

"...yes?"

Iris deeply breathed in, raising her hands in defeat as she went behind the counter. Barry came to stand to the side and watched her intently.

"What are you doing?" he curiously asked.

"Since you're being a child and Bells is being obscure, I'm going to settle this myself." Iris had grabbed her cellphone from her bag and waved it at him as a final warning.

"Iris, please…" Barry sighed. He understood Iris was just trying to help - in her own Iris way - but this was not exactly helping.

"Bup," Iris pointed a finger at him as she waited for the line she called for to be answered. With a huff, Barry walked off. He met Felicity who'd come out of the bathroom then.

"So, how bad was it?" She looked towards the counter as they walked out of the place, seeing Iris was busily speaking with someone.

"She scolded me, like badly," Barry sighed.

"This girl is really important then," Felicity smiled to herself, "For everyone to be this upset, I mean…"

"Mhm…"

They were now walking down the street, no destination for the moment.

"And that was the girl that made you finally remember I existed?"

"Felicity...I...I'm sorry," Barry thought this was turning into another round of scolds so he decided to skip to the last part where he said his apologies and hoped everything would get better.

"I'm over that, honestly," Felicity assured him, "She's pretty, I can see the urgency to find her. Because, that's why you were trying to hack into her phone right? Not to see her pictures or anything…"

"No," Barry crinkled his nose, "No. Belén was having a stalker problem and the cellphone was important to find him- which we did, by the way."

"Ah," Felicity nodded with understanding, "I see. Well, I'm glad I was of service. And I guess I'll have to thank Belén myself for you calling."

Barry understood her implication just by her look and had to stop it before she actually went ahead and did something. "No, Felicity, this isn't your problem. I messed up and I have to fix it."

"I could help. I mean, I'm no expert but I do have some experience in discovering people's secret identities as vigilantes. Maybe I could talk to her..."

"No, I get the feeling I'll be seeing her later today anyways."

"Why do you said that?"

"Two words," Barry raised two fingers, "Iris West."

~ 0 ~

Things at STAR Labs had only gotten worse after Belén's appearance. Cisco had discovered that something was missing from the building, a very important something that could lead to disastrous consequences. Having no choice, he came clean to Dr. Wells. Now he, Wells and Caitlin had moved to one of the storage rooms where his missing 'something' had originally been placed in. The shelf was left open and had an empty compartment in the middle.

"How long has it been missing?" Wells demanded in a very low, yet eerily dark, tone.

"I don't know," Cisco replied feebly.

Caitlin stood inside the room, off to the side with her hands behind her back. She honestly could not remember a time where she felt this much tension in one room - and that was saying something after all that had happened as of late.

"I'm gonna ask you again, Cisco," Wells warned. "But when I do, I expect a more specific answer than 'I don't know'. Now, how long has this weapon been gone?"

"A day, maybe two. One of the janitors didn't show up for work this morning. He was probably the one who took it. I didn't think that…"

"You _didn't_ think, because if you _had_ , you would have discussed with me first your desire to build something that could, in theory, hurt anyone, and in particular, Barry Allen."

"I'm sorry. If you just let me explain…"

"You know how I feel about weapons, Cisco. They do not belong in S.T.A.R. Labs. Now, you are gonna figure out a way to locate this gun, and you are gonna do it right now."

Caitlin cleared her throat and spoke after Dr. Wells had left them. "This thing you built, what can it do?"

Cisco shuddered a breath. "Bad stuff."

~ 0 ~

Jitters was hosting a trivial afternoon event that of course Iris was attending - there was a chance for free coffee! But, most importantly, it served as the perfect setting for some information and talking...by force, of course.

Because she was sure that if this wasn't an event, Belén would have never showed up.

Sitting at a table was Iris herself with Eddie beside her. Barry, who'd been lured in a similar manner (without yet knowing it) sat across them, looking rather bored. He had left Felicity in her hotel room because of this very important thing that Iris had said to him over the phone. Though, Felicity already had a good idea that was a lie but Barry was the last to figure it out.

"I can't believe you got us to come to this thing," Eddie, seemingly mortified, huffed and shook his head.

"Oh, shush!" Iris laughed and nudged him. "It's for a good cause."

"Free coffee is not a good cause, Iris," Barry gave her a look.

Iris rolled her eyes. "Would it kill you both to be a little more cheerful?" She gestured to the very much lively environment they were in, hoping they would catch on it was all about the smiles and laughs.

"I don't understand why _I'm_ here," Barry raised a hand. "I don't feel like being a third wheel."

Before Iris opened her mouth to explain, she saw Belén walking in. "That's why you're here," she pointed to Belén who immediately saw the three at the table.

"Oh, you didn't," Barry slapped a hand over his face.

"I told you I would deal with this," Iris smugly said and motioned to Belén she was being waited on.

Belén stopped by the side of the table and exchanged a hard look with Barry. "I'm here because someone said they wanted to talk - _Iris_." The hard look was shifted towards Iris who did not falter against it like Barry had.

"Yes, sit down," Iris gestured to the spot beside Barry.

"No." Belén said smoothly, pretending to flick something off her blouse.

"Annah-Belén don't you dare leave this place because you know I _will_ find you," Iris warned and once again pointed for her to sit down.

Belén pursed her lips as she slid into her chair. " _What_ do you want?" her thick voice demanded.

"Well, this couldn't be more awkward," Eddie mumbled under his breath.

"What is going on with you two?" Iris asked of her and Barry, watching how they uncomfortably looked away from each other.

"Ask Barry," Belén muttered.

"Bells," Barry sighed.

"I no longer use that nickname."

"Oh c'mon! Don't you think you're being a little overdramatic-"

" _Excuse_ _me_?" Belén finally turned to Barry, and it was with such a glower that even Iris backed off for a minute. "You're calling me _overdramatic_ now? Seriously? _I'm_ the one with the problem?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Barry tried to mend his poor choice of words fast but even his speed was not enough to combat Belén.

"You messed up big time, Barry Allen, and I will not so easily forget it. _I'm_ not that one that lied so don't come at me for reacting the way that I am because _you_ brought it on yourself. And do you know what-"

"Hey," Iris finally cut in, looking completely baffled by the exchange among the two.

Belén flushed momentarily and straightened herself up. "I'm sorry," she directed that apology towards Iris and Eddie. "I'm only staying for you two...and cos I actually do want that free coffee…" she added with a small smile.

~ 0 ~

Nina was coming into work at the hospital when one of her co-workers, a slightly younger man named Will, stopped her midway down a hall.

"Nina, I was taking care of some things with the blood testing room and I noticed a patient's sample was missing."

"Yeah, who?" Nina crossed her arms. She didn't recall ordering a recent blood test from any of their patients that day. Then again, there were some newbie nurses who still hadn't gotten with the process.

"Your friend's, the one that got kidnapped, remember? Talks kinda fast?"

Nina furrowed her brow, almost like she wasn't believing it. "What? I...I didn't take the blood. It should still be there. I was meant to get back to her for some results..."

"Well it's not there," Will promised her.

"No," Nina walked past him, sprinting towards the room. Will had to be wrong because she had personally made sure nothing of Belén's was touched nor examined. It was key for her metahuman identity to stay a secret. That was why she hadn't even ran the test yet.

She rushed into the room and went directly looking for Belén's most recent drawn blood. Will was right, she discovered glumly. It was gone. Now, she deduced there and then that no one from the hospital had taken it because the first thing they would've done after seeing what was truly within the blood was to come out and say Belén was one of ' _those_ ' people as they now addressed them in the building. Or, in worst case scenario, they would've contacted Belén to blackmail her.

It then struck her what most likely happened.

Making way for her office, she came across Will and assured him (with a lie of course) that it was just a mistake and that everything was where it should be.

Nina then came into her office and locked the door. She made a beeline for her desk and pulled out her cellphone. Her fingers had never dialed so fast the way she was now. But this was important as well as a complete invasion of privacy.

"Hello?"

"I swear to God if Belén doesn't punch you _I_ will," was her first statement and Nina was nowhere near guilty for her unprofessional attitude.

"Nina? I guess Bells told you-" but Barry couldn't finish his words when Nina cut in again.

"I don't care if you're the stupid streak everyone's talking about, you do _not_ go into someone's personal records and steal their blood samples! You got that?"

There was a slight commotion from the other line but eventually it died down and Barry spoke again. "I know it was wrong but I had to know."

"You mean the same way Belén should've known about _you_? Because let's be honest, I tell Bells that it's not as bad as it seems but it _is_ kind of a slap on the face to discover someone close to you was the vigilante of the city, not to mention the one she's been having secret meetings with."

"You think I don't feel bad enough? Of course I do," Barry was now sounding actually mad. "But it was a tough decision and I made it thinking it was the right one."

"But this last one you made - of her blood sample - was completely _wrong_. If you even _glimpse_ at those results then you will have crossed a terrible line with Belén. That's _her_ secret - whether there is one or not - to tell. You have no right to invade her privacy like that. I don't know what the Streak is like, but I like to think that 'Barry' is not that kind of man."

Nina didn't let him say anything back before she hung up. She was growling with anger at such a childish move. She guessed that being nearly thirty made her just a little bit more mature than these twentiers. But c'mon, this was just getting ridiculous!

~ 0 ~

Barry was just coming back into Jitters after hanging up (or being hung up) with Nina, when Eddie rushed right past him out the doors. Confused, he made way for the table but Belén met him halfway.

"There's an ongoing police fight apparently," she informed him. "Something about a 'Snart'?" She could immediately see the familiarity of the name based off Barry's expression. "Figured. I may be incredibly angry with you but I won't say anything to Iris. I'll cover for you, go," she shooed him and turned back for their table.

"Wait," Barry grabbed her by the arm, "what do you plan on saying?"

Belén raised her eyebrows as she considered possible options. "Bad stomach ache...really bad diarrhea."

"Yeah, I'm not comfortable with that excuse," Barry made a face, shaking his head.

Belén instantly smiled and removed his hand from her. "I think I'll go with that one, then."

Barry groaned, but let it be. He deserved that much.

~ 0 ~

After a catastrophic fight against Snart - which resulted in a man frozen to death - Barry sat on the edge of a bed with his STAR Labs sweater slightly raised on the side of his injury. Snart had somehow acquired a deadly cold gun that practically ate through his suit. Caitlin had examined the now black and purple bruise and was pulling up results on a screen for the others to see.

"It's still numb," Barry complained and pushed his sweater down.

Caitlin walked over to thr screen on the wall. "It's presenting itself like third degree frostbite."

Felicity was busy reading from her tablet but did remark over the situation. "I thought he had hyper healing."

"It's been slowed," Caitlin clarified then shot Barry a sharp look. "If your cells weren't regenerating at the rate they are, your blood vessels would have frozen solid and the nerve damage would have been permanent. You're lucky to be alive, Barry."

Barry was not interested in miracles. "Snart wasn't another meta-human. He has some kind of gun. It froze things, slowed me down... Enough that I wasn't in time to save someone. "

"According to his record, Snart didn't even bother to finish high school, so how did he build a handheld high tech snow machine?" Felicity asked the winning question.

"S.T.A.R. Labs built the cold gun," Wells answered, his tone still etched with annoyance.

"Dr. Wells and Caitlin had nothing to do with this. I built the gun," Cisco declared, ready to accept the consequences.

Barry got up from the bed, confused. "You did? Why?"

"Because speed and cold are opposites. Temperature is measured by how quickly the atoms of something are oscillating. The faster they are, the hotter it is, and when then are cold, they're slower on the atomic level. When there's no movement at all, it's called…"

"Absolute zero," both young men finished.

"Yeah," Cisco nodded. "I designed a compact cryo engine to achieve absolute zero. I built it to stop you. I didn't know who you were then, Barry. I mean, what if you turned out to be some psycho, like Mardon or Nimbus?"

The anger was quick to rise and seeing as Barry already had what seemed like millions of problems he exploded into shouts. "But I didn't! Did I!?"

"We built the entire structure you're standing in to do good, and it blew up. In the wake of that, you can understand why Cisco would want to be prepared for the worst." Caitlin had stepped up beside Cisco for his defense.

Barry discarded her and glared at Cisco. "I can understand that, but what I can't understand is why you didn't tell me what you did. I mean, after all we've been through, I thought you trusted me. I thought we were friends."

"We are, Barry," Cisco tried to say but Barry wasn't listening.

"I mean, if you would have just told me, I could have been prepared. But instead, someone died tonight."

"And I have to live with that."

"No, Cisco. We all do," Barry corrected in a low mutter and walked away.

~ 0 ~

Belén laid on the couch with her laptop in front of her, watching a livestream of the recent news. It was of course all about the Streak who saved most civilians from a man with a gun that apparently shot ice.

"Belén, are you alright?" her father's voice had startled her.

She unplugged her earphones and raised her head to find her father towering over her from behind the couch. "What?"

David was staring at her with a suspicious, yet concerned, look. "You've got that sad look on your face. The one where your lips do the thing," he motioned to his own lips that were mimicking a pursed action.

"I'm fine, Dad," Belén sighed, swinging her legs to the side in order to sit properly.

"For a woman who's about to graduate now you don't seem to be very happy," David remarked. "Is it about your dancing? Cos you know you could go back to it now..."

Belén placed her opened laptop on the coffee table and shrugged. "It's not about that. Actually, it's nothing. Please, can we not continue?"

David smiled to himself. "As long as you say you're alright," he mumbled and headed for the stairs.

When the door knocked, Belén half expected her father to come open. But, after a couple of knocks Belén went herself to open up. She was definitely not expecting to find a blonde woman with glasses standing on the other side.

"Hi, I, uh...don't suppose you would know me right?" Felicity shyly waved a hand. "We didn't really get introductions when you, um...came to STAR Labs…"

It only took a minute took recognize Felicity as the woman from the park Barry had been talking to. Of course she was in STAR Labs afterwards.

"Right," was Belén's first answer. She discreetly looked past Felicity to see if anyone else was with her.

"I'm here alone!" Felicity exclaimed, her smile broadening. "In case you were, uh, wondering…" Belén wasn't sure what this woman wanted, nor intended, and it showed in her face. "I just came to talk," Felicity clarified, her hand gripping her bag's strap.

"If you're here on behalf of Barry, I don't want to hear it."

"He doesn't even know I'm here, I promise," Felicity's hand shot up in a neutral gesture. "But I do know something about discovering people's secrt identity."

"Is this going to be like a support group now?"

"No! Well…" Felicity looked to the side, "...kind of - I don't know!"

"What was your name again?"

"Felicity Smoak," Felicity extended a hand for the ombre-blonde, "Nice to meet you."

Belén, under no circumstances, was impolite. She shook Felicity's hand and introduced herself. "Belén Palayta." She glanced back into the foyer and saw her father was nowhere in sight. "Do you want to, uh…?"

At the gesture Felicity nodded. "Yes! Thank you." She stepped inside and walked after Belén into the living room.

"Listen, I'm sorry you had to witness my little scene at STAR Labs. I don't usually make those."

"It's understandable." Felicity noticed the opened laptop left behind with the news video paused at the scene of the most recent crime. "You saw?" She made a gesture towards the laptop.

"Hm?" Belén forgot about her laptop and sighed. "Yeah. I'm a journalist intern and my boss asked me to watch for an article…"

"Ooh," Felicity nodded. "Well, I guess you should know that Barry was there…"

"I do."

"...and he was injured…"

"Is he okay!?"

Felicity tried her hardest not to smirk. "He's fine. Heals quickly, did you know that?"

"No," Belén crossed her arms. "I don't know anything about him, as it turns out."

"Sure you do," Felicity shrugged lightly. "You know that he would never, intentionally, mean to hurt you, or anyone, actually."

"This isn't about getting my feelings hurt! This is the fact that I wasn't trusted enough by someone I considered a close friend."

"As long as it's not getting your feelings hurt," Felicity mumbled, but was clearly heard by Belén.

"Why does everyone keep doing that!?" Belén fell back onto the couch chair with a plop. "I'm angry!"

"Completely understandable," Felicity assured and walked around to sit on the long couch beside her. "You know, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret."

"That'll be a first," Belén sarcastically waved a hand.

"I work with the Arrow."

Belén's eyes widened.

"And, I found out who he was in quite a bad circumstance."

Belén leaned towards Felicity. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. It was such a unique day. I was a little pissed that he didn't tell me before, but…"

"How is it that you aren't mad at him anymore?" Belén inquired. "Did you not know him enough to be mad?"

"Let's just say our relationship prior to that day was interesting…but, over time we kind of fell into a good synced place. Plus, I understood why he would keep his secret a secret." Felicity then grew serious. "People who find out the secret are put into constant danger. Sometimes, keeping them in the dark is the only way to keep them safe."

Belén looked away, her hands clumping together. "Doesn't mean it's what _should_ be done."

"You were already kidnapped once," Felicity said and instantly had Belén's suspicious eyes on her. "During that time Barry called me asking for help. I hacked into your phone's for that stalker problem?"

"Well," Belén crossed her arms, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Do you see how being already in danger by just being _you_ can discourage Barry from telling you his secret?"

"I...guess…" Belén rolled her eyes, deeply exhaling, "But it doesn't mean I am less angry about it."

"Listen, I'm not here to convince you to forgive Barry. I just thought that you should at least try to understand Barry's side."

"Hm," Belén crossed her arms. "I will when he understands _me_."

Felicity stared long and hard at Belén, thinking that those words had a significant meaning behind. "What do you mean?" the moment she asked the question Belén shook her head and got up.

"No! Absolutely not!"

From her experiences, Felicity knew well when someone was lying to. Still, she knew her place and since she didn't know Belén all that well - in fact she hardly knew the woman - she did not press further. "You're upset, Belén, and honestly I think you are reacting like anyone else would be in your place. But I really advice you to talk to Barry. And if you need anything from me I'm willing to listen too."

Belén's eyes slowly met Felicity's, and her anger subsided at least for that moment. "Thank you, Felicity."

Felicity nodded and headed for the doors, Belén sticking to her polite habits followed. "Oh," she had barely stepped out to the front porch when she remembered and turned around, "Barry and the others hit a sort of stump earlier. Cisco built this cold gun that would have stopped Barry had he turned out to be a bad metahuman-"

"M-metahuman?" Belén raised an eyebrow.

"People with their powers," Felicity quickly explained and continued with her main point. "Barry's pretty hurt by that and seeing as he wants to talk to no one I would say you are most capable of handling that."

"Sure, if you want me to punch him in the face."

Felicity laughed. "You don't look like you could hurt a fly. You'll be fine."

"I don't know…"

"Think about it," Felicity gave her one last smile before walking off.

~ 0 ~

In an attempt to 'make things better', Barry had forced himself onto the treadmill. His idea was: run more and he'd become faster. In any other occasion the thought would have had more logic put it into it (like an actual plan) but his mind was clouded with all the problems of the day.

He most certainly was not expecting one of those problems to show up.

"Barry?" Belén's voice caught him off guard and thus slipped backwards and crashed into the stacked up boxes again. "Barry!" the ombre-blonde woman ran to where the metahuman had landed. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she pushed some boxes out of the way.

Barry was less than concerned about his current state. "I'm fine, what are you doing here?"

Belén cleared her throat and stood back up, awkwardly crossing her arms. "I heard what happened today at the, um...theater. I also heard about the gun - Cisco just finished explaining." Barry stood up and grimly moved past her. Belén turned around, not following yet. "It doesn't feel good being kept in the dark about something, is it?"

"It's not the same thing!" Barry responded back with a surprisingly loud shout, startling her for a second. "Cisco built a gun that could have _killed_ me! But instead, it's the reason why a poor man had to die today! I watched him die, Belén. If Cisco would've trusted me-"

"Of course he didn't trust you in the beginning," Belén cut in. "You were a stranger!"

"And then? After everything, he still didn't trust me enough to tell me about this?"

"Still think it's not the same thing between us?" Belén asked, now wearing a smirk on her face.

"Bells-"

"That's not a nickname you can use anymore," Belén cut him off and walked up to him. "I'm crossed with you but I'm here to make a point. I don't know what kind of thing goes around here," she gestured to the empty room, "but I'm sure there was enough trust between all of you to know that none of you would hurt the other - at least not on purpose. If that Snart guy is still out there, don't let him get away with his crime. That's not what the Streak does."

With one last look, Belén turned and started walking away.

Barry watched her leave until the need to patch things up overwhelmed him. If he wanted to fix things, he needed to start with the most basic thing: honesty. "Bells," he called softly, and when Belén glanced back with her narrowed look he sighed and added, "Sorry. Belén, um...I may have, uh...well, see I intended on, um...I didn't mean to...to be...well…"

"Will this sentence be put together by dawn?" Belén inquired with a light sarcasm in her tone. "Barry, what is it?"

Barry took a deep breath in and let it all out, hoping for the best. "I stole one of your blood samples from the hospital to examine it and see if you were a metahuman - um, if you had powers…"

"You did _what_?" Belén completely turned back for him.

"I'm sorry!"

"Barry, how could you do that?" Instead of being angry, Belén felt more offended, and completely invaded on her personal life.

Barry could tell the feelings from her soft tone. "I thought...you know what, it doesn't even matter what I thought because it wasn't right."

"Well, at least something works right in that brain of yours," Belén put a hand on her temple.

"I didn't look, though - I haven't looked at the results yet. They're still on my computer."

"And will you look at them?"

"No, I swear to you I won't. Whether it's true or not, no one has the right to know unless _you_ want them to know."

Belén felt a little relief hearing that, but it still didn't make her feel better. "I'm glad you think that way. Why would you tell me this, though? Could have easily seen the results or not and I would've never heard a thing."

"Nina knows," Barry went with that honesty thing again, "And before she got a chance to tell you, I needed to. Because if you're going to shout again then it should be at me...because I deserve it."

"Oh, you deserve it," Belén agreed with a nod but surprised him by turning and continuing on her way out.

"Wait, what...that's...that's it?" Barry called after her. She stopped by the threshold and laughed. "I'm...confused…"

"Good," Belén smirked and took her leave.

~ 0 ~

"Hi there, I figured out a way to track Captain Cold," Cisco came into the cortex room with a tablet in hand. Everyone had regathered there in an attempt to put heads together for a solution.

"You gotta stop naming these guys," Caitlin playfully rolled her eyes.

"Barry, listen to him," Wells glanced at the silent metahuman still refusing to utter a word to them.

"The cold gun is powered by an engine control unit, a microcomputer that regulates air-to-fuel ratios so the sub-cooled fluid in the chambers don't overflow and...

"Explode," Barry mumbled.

Cisco moved up to the desk as he continued to explain. "This E.C.U. was receiving updates wirelessly from my tablet. If I boost the signal using Central City's network and send a false update, we'll get a ping back, and then…"

"We can locate Snart," Wells concluded, and motioned Cisco to get on it.

"How long will it take?" Caitlin asked.

Cisco had turned one of the computers on, moving to plug in his tablet. "First I have to hack into the City's network, so I don't know, 30 minutes, maybe?"

Felicity walked over to a small table where her laptop was currently charging. "I can do it in less than one. When it comes to hacking, I'm the fastest woman alive." She cracked her knuckles and experienced an 'epic fail' as she often heard. "Ow! That was not as badass as I pictured.." She typed away on the keyboard for about a minute. "All right, I'm in."

Cisco gaped. "Are you kidding?"

Felicity just smirked as she typed again. "All right, I'm sending the updates."

"We're connected," Cisco announced after a moment. "Network is triangulating the location. We got him. He's heading west on Nelson toward the train station."

"If he's leaving, it appears Mr. Snart may have gotten what he came for," Wells looked up to where Barry had been, but the metahuman had already gone for his suit.

"When we put our minds to it, dude, nothing can stop us," Cisco chuckled and saw Barry coming back...and switching off their only communication. "Oh, you turned your ear piece off. How are we gonna talk to each other?"

"I don't feel like talking right now," Barry muttered and sped off.

~ 0 ~

Belén was returning home when her phone rang. As she unlocked the door and stepped inside, she pulled out her phone and saw an unidentified number.

"Hello…?" she slowly said. She dropped her keys on the table whilst passing by the foyer, though she stopped when she saw a small piece of paper with her name on it.

"Belén!?" Felicity's voice chirped from the other line. "Hi! Felicity again - well, you probably guessed that by my voice but-"

"How did you get my number?" Belén made a face.

"Same way I figured out where you lived - hacking! It's what I do, but listen...there's something you may want to help us do."

"Oh yeah?" Belén raised an eyebrow. "Care to make a wager? I talked to Barry, like you thought I should, I'm not going back there again."

"Oh, but I think you will," Felicity said confidently, much to Belén's annoyance. She went ahead and explained the situation they found themselves in, and their current plan, and when the choice remained solely on Belén they hung up.

As she considered the idea, Belén finally took a read from the paper left behind by her father apparently.

 _I have to work late again, sweetheart. If you need anything Mrs. Andrews was more than happy to help.  
\- Dad._

Belén smiled lightly. She knew that her father was still a bit suspicious and that was why he resorted to their closest neighbor for help. Mrs. Andrews, who lived just across the street, was a widow who was always there for them, even more so after Belén's parents' divorced. Still, Belén doubted Mrs. Andrews would be helpful in this situation she was stuck in. Right now, Belén had to focus on what Felicity told her over the phone. She knew that she should just stay home and let Barry figure it out. I mean, that's how he'd been doing it before her, no?

But she kept glancing up at the staircase...until eventually...

"Barry Allen, why do I keep doing things I would never do for anyone?" she let the note drop and dashed for the stairs.

~ 0 ~

Snart was just conveniently standing in one of the train compartments when Barry sped in. There were dozens of passengers intently watching them, probably fearing for their lives. Snart was a bit famous after all...as well as 'the Streak'.

"There's nowhere to run," Barry smirked, not yet realizing Snart's plan. The criminal never revealed himself so easily without a proper plan.

Snart turned around to finally face the metahuman. "I didn't see you before. Your mom know you're out past your bedtime?"

"If you wanted to get away you should've taken something faster than a train."

Snart smirked under his blue jacket hoodie he was now dawning. "That's _if_ I wanted to get away. I've seen your weakness at the armored car, then at the theater. See, while you're busy saving everybody, I'll be saving myself. Good luck with that."

Using the cold gun, he created a hole on the floor that would inevitably cause the train to lose control. He escaped rather easily - just as he planned - and landed on dirty grass. Meanwhile, Barry set himself out to save the passengers that would be crushed by the shaking train. When he knew that there was no one else left, he finally escaped himself and dropped to the ground. His head rang with the loud noise of the train, and he was just a bit dizzy from the tumbles. Still, he knew it would be alright.

And then Snart found him...and froze him to the ground.

Barry felt the incredible sting of the cold gun and looked up to find Snart still aiming the gun at him.

"Pretty fast, kid, but not fast enough," Snart said with a smirk. "Thank you."

"For what?" Barry asked in the midst of one of his pain hisses.

"You forced me to up my game, not only with this gun, but with how I think about the job. It's been educational."

"Drop it," Cisco appeared behind Snart, a couple feet away, holding part of a machine in his arms. Caitlin and Felicity were just beside him, carrying the second part, and a little heavier, of the device. "This is a prototype cold gun, four times the size, four times the power."

Snart cast an unworried glance over his shoulder. "I was wondering who you were talking to," he commented to Barry.

Cisco held the whirring gun closer. "Hey, unless you want a taste of your own medicine, I'd back the hell up, Captain Cold."

"Or what?" Snart called on the bluff and there was a shot just beside him...but it hadn't come from Cisco's 'gun'.

"Back up right now or I won't miss the next time," Belén came up to them, holding an actual gun in her hands. Everyone stared at her in shock, but no one more than Barry. He wore a mixture of surprise and utter horror, and if he wasn't stuck to the ground he would've snatched the gun right out of her hands.

"Your hands are shaking," Snart observed the ombre-blonde curiously. "You've never killed anyone."

"My mom's a cop, so I assure you I know my way around a perfect aim. Before you shoot that thing at me I'd at least be able to give you one shot through the chest - easy."

Belén wasn't quite sure if that was her saying all that stuff. She was doing her best not to accidentally shoot or worse, drop the gun. It was moments like these where she wished she had better control of her powers, or of herself for that matter, to be able to hurt at least a fly.

Snart lowered his cold gun after deciding it wasn't worth killing so many people in one go. Like he always said, there's no need for extra heat. With a final glance at Barry, he bid goodbye. "You win, kid. I'll see you around."

"Hey, leave the diamond!" Cisco called after him.

"Don't push your luck."

When Snart was gone, Cisco let out a small laugh while Caitlin and Felicity powered down the machine. "Couldn't shoot him if I wanted to. This is actually the S.T.A.R. Labs vacuum cleaner with a lot of L.E.D's. Let's get you warm."

He helped Barry get up since the ice was beginning to melt. At the same time, Caitlin turned to Belén - looking like that scolding mom.

"Belén…?"

"I didn't know you could use a gun," Felicity eyed the woman curiously.

"Mom's a cop," Belén reiterated with a small sigh as she finally lowered the gun. "Of course there would be a registered gun at my house. Though if my Dad finds out I took it for _this_ , I'll be promptly be dead by tomorrow morning."

"Bells - Belén," Barry had to correct himself again, "Thank you."

Belén didn't know what to do nor say a that moment. She just shrugged and put the gun back into her bag. "Felicity called, explained, so I came. But that's it."

"Belén?" Cisco sadly called to her, but Belén looked at all of them and felt...so out of place. There was a whole new side of them and she didn't know where she could fit in anymore. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and her head was spinning. Pursing her lips, she meekly spoke again. "I have to go…"

It couldn't be possible she felt like this after one confrontation, she thought as she hurried away.

~ 0 ~

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you to the train station?" Barry asked Felicity for the tenth time as they waited outside of her hotel for her cab to come by. Felicity had decided it was time to get back to Starling and had picked up a ticket from the train station earlier.

"I'm fine," she assured with a light laugh. "But...are _you_?"

Barry nodded, more or less feeling better than earlier. He felt more at ease with Cisco and the others - except for one ombre-blonde. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Good," Felicity smiled and put a hand on his arm. "Just remember, it's a wonky little team but you guys are good for each other."

"Wonky?" Barry raised an eyebrow, unable to keep himself from laughing.

"Shut up!"

"I'll miss you," Barry said truhfully as he sobered. "You are a great friend and helper, have I mentioned?"

"That's what I'm here for - I mean, that _is_ why you remembered me right?" Felicity gave him a little nudge on the side. "Damn, I didn't get to thank Belén after all." The mere mention of the possible metahuman put Barry into a glum state. Felicity sighed and turned to him. "It's gonna take some time but...she'll come around," she promised, but Barry shook his head. "Look, people who don't care about a friend don't show up with a gun to protect them. Listen to me, alright? It'll be fine."

Barry gave in with a small nod, not too convinced but he was going to hope for the best as he made his attempts to win Belén's friendship back.

~ 0 ~

Belén sat on her bed with a blank expression. Her mind was being unhelpful by replaying her stupid act of boldness against Snart and she cursed herself for being so... _weak_. Her hands _were_ trembling then as Snart pointed it out and she only wondered what would've occurred if Snart had called her out on her bluff. Sure she knew how to shoot, but she'd never actually _needed_ to. What would've happened if she needed to do it tonight and she couldn't? Barry would have died, then Cisco, Caitlin, Felicity...and finally herself.

She raised her right hand and narrowed her eyes in focus as she tried to call upon her abilities. She mildly succeeded in turning it into a bright green but anything else was out of the question.

"I can't be like this anymore," she told herself.

She took a rash decision then and jumped out of her bed to make it happen.

~ 0 ~

Felicity was patiently sitting inside her train, too focused reading off her tablet to notice the other passengers that were filling up the compartment. Someone came to take the seat directly across her.

"Felicity?" the voice of the person momentarily made Felicity wonder if she was dreaming.

She lowered her tablet from her face and blinked rapidly, even more so confused. "Belén?"

The ombre-blonde sat across Felicity, changed into a more comfortable set of clothes for the departure. Her black coat covered most of it though. "I need your help."

"M-mine?" Felicity pointed at herself.

"Yes," Belén nodded and sighed. "You said you worked with the Arrow, no?"

"Yeah…"

"And we concluded that Barry and him know each other?"

"Aha…"

"I need to see him. And I need his help."

Felicity had to replay the words spoken to her just to see if she'd heard right. She rested her cheek on her palm, elbow on the armrest. "Wh-why are you saying this? Does anyone know you're here?"

It was then that she noticed Belén had come with a carry-on bag and was placed on the seat beside.

"Oh my God, you're so serious," Felicity blinked.

"I am more than serious about this Felicity. I have no control of myself - emotionally and physically. In this city, that spells death."

"Belén-"

'Let me finish," Belén raised a hand and indeed went on calmly. "My brother is in this city - I _know_ he is - but I can't continue looking for him if I can't protect myself, my family and friends. Today proved that I'm not ready for any battle. And before you say anything about going to Barry, know that I can't and that I don't want to. I can't...be around him right now. I don't...I don't know _how_ to be around him. You were right before, he _did_ hurt my feelings. Whether it was intentional or not, I don't care. I can't be near him for sometime. My mom's a cop, and she lives in Starling too. If my friend, Laurel, can't have me with her then I'll just have to stay with my Mom. But I _need_ to see the Arrow."

"You know Laurel?" Felicity quirked an eyebrow. "As in Laurel Lance?"

"Yeah, we were good friends. Why?"

Felicity knew that Barry would later come for her because she was deciding to help Belén in this completely crazy idea, but...she couldn't just leave Belén on her own. "The Arrow? He knows Laurel, and Laurel knows him. So, I guess, he might be more willing to meet with you. But, I just gotta ask, why do you want to see him?"

"Because I need to learn how to hurt a fly," Belén said, and Felicity immediately understood her implication. "And…" Belén leaned forwards on her chair, holding her palms up, "...I need to learn how to control this."

Felicity gasped as Belén's palms turned emerald green. But just as it had come, it vanished.

"I'm a metahuman, but I'm not strong. I'm clueless. Please, Felicity, help me."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I'm so sorry for taking forever to update this story! Hopefully no one's lost interest lmao.

Anyways, I always wondered during this actual episode when Barry sped away from Felicity in the park to take a picture of her on top of a building...if anyone actually saw him do it? I mean, you just have a random guy speeding and leaving strong wind behind, so...yeah. I'm pretty sure someone would have seen it in a public park, and for this story I made it so that Belén saw him. Yikes! And so now...what do we think about that little ending? :o

 **For the Reviews:**

Oh hey! Well glad I got you hooked onto another story xD. Welcome! Oh my god that was hilarious, I love Oliver & Barry scenes because they're so different so they just clash all the time xD. Aaaaah Felicity my girl! I stopped watching Arrow after season 4 but I might get back to it. Felicity&Oliver are like a huge pairing for the CW so that your instincts are right! Well I don't watch teen wolf so I hope this Kira is a good character xD. Yes! I've always loved plant-based powers so I decided those should be for Belén's! And even more ironic, I did know about Danielle's role and since I loved her there it motivated me even more to have those plant powers here. Aw, well if you want to watch those they're on netflix or you can try 'watch it series online' and that one's free.

Aww, thank you so much! Well, we got the one where Belén finds out about Barry...now we wait for him to know lol. Ooooh when Belén finds out about her siblings? I've written that and it breaks my heart with one of them because it spirals into something more...*sniffles*.

* * *

So that's pretty much it! Thank you guys for reading and hope to hear your thoughts about the chapter! Also, I just started school this week so that will, unfortunately, affect my updating at times. I'll be announcing this for each story I update so sorry in advance if some of you read other stories of mine!


	8. Focus

In the following morning after going against 'Captain Cold', Barry thought a good (and hopefully civilized) talk with Belén was in order. Since she had no more classes, he assumed she would either be at home or at her job. Calling would've been pointless since she hadn't answered any of his calls the previous night so guessing was all he had to go by.

He was knocking incessantly on Belén's front door - he was hoping her father wasn't there so he wouldn't have to awkwardly explain the reason behind his pounds on the door. After five minutes of knocking, he gave up. Giving it one quick scope with his speed he finally concluded that no one was home.

That left CC Pictures.

"Hi, Barry," Linda greeted him from her desk when he walked in.

"Linda," Barry headed for her desk while taking a look at the current employees rushing about. He assumed after the tumbling train and cold gun incident, the news was buzzing with new articles. "I need to talk to Belén. Can you call her?"

Linda's face scrunched in confusion. "Barry, I thought you knew."

"Knew what?"

"Belén called in last night - she's left the city."

Barry's eyebrows raised, equally confused as the reporter. "She...she...she what?"

Linda rose from her chair, lightly tapping her knuckles on her desk. "I was hoping to bump into you or one of her other friends so that someone could explain this. She called in last night and said she was going to be taking a break. She understood her job here could be lost but she seemed very determined to leave."

"Did...did she give you any sort of reasoning?" Barry asked, the wave of guilt not wasting time in hitting. "Or, where she went to?"

"Nothing just that she needed a break," Linda shrugged, clearly doubtful that it was the truth. "I told her her job was safe. But, between you and I, if she's gone for a long time I won't be able to help her later on. You think you can pass on the message?"

Even though he had no idea where Belén could've possibly gone, he still nodded his head. "Yeah…"

"Barry?" Linda called when Barry was already halfway back to the doors. "Do you know why Belén would just pick up and leave?"

"Uh…"

"I mean, I know she's gone through a lot of stuff lately but if she wanted to do something like this she would've done it a long time ago…"

Barry swallowed hard and forced himself to shake his head. "N-no...not at all…"

Linda seemed to trust him but looked no less disappointed. With a polite smile, they bid goodbye and Barry rushed to go find the missing (possible) metahuman.

~ 0 ~

 _ **2 Months Later.**_

"Felicity, I'm here, but are you sure this is the place?"

"Positive, Belén. There's been tons of break-ins into this jewelry store by that gumbo woman."

"Plasticine, you meant Plasticine."

"Eugh, that's still a creepy name."

Belén rolled her eyes and came to a stop in front of the jewelry store that barely had any customers inside. It seemed like a perfectly normal jewelry store yet she has discovered - thanks to the wonderful techy powers of Felicity Smoak - that this was a preferred robbing spot for the metahuman known as Plasticine.

"Belén," came Oliver Queen's voice through her earpiece, "Remember what I told you to do."

"Yes, yes," Belén's eyes - which were hidden behind tendrils of vines forming a nice mask with small Azaleas decorating its corners - quickly glanced down at her hands. She flexed them over and over as she saw spots of green trying to make its way across her skin. _No_ , she told herself. That _needed_ to go away. "I learn fast, remember?" she answered in a perfectly normal voice, nothing that would ever indicate what she was trying to desperately hide.

"Two months is hardly fast."

"Shut up," Belén commanded and she was sure Felicity had done something from the other line to make it so.

As Belén's eyes re-opened, this time more focused on her task. Her ombre-blonde hair, which had been picked up into a high pony-tail, were being overun by thin roots with green vines that contained several small azaleas throughout its course. It was just enough to cover her blonde tips (in case any civilian identified it and configured back to her).

Her dark green leather jacket, whose green shade faded midway to turn into a hot pink just like her pants, was zipped closed as she burst into the store.

"Customers," her perfectly modulated voice (thanks to Felicity's addition to the earpiece) made everyone in the building stop, "get _out_."

See, the good thing about Central City now was that when some crazed leather bound person ordered those three words people listened in a snap. When customers had ran out, Belén sealed the door by wrapping her vines all over them.

"Freeze!" came the predicted security guard behind her.

"Belén," Oliver's voice warned the young woman before she made her move.

"I know," Belén rolled her eyes and thrust a hand back to the guard. A thick green vine had shot out from her palm and swiftly snatched the gun from the officer, breaking it two before letting it drop to the floor. "I don't mean to hurt anyone," she addressed the rest of the people in the room, "I need to talk to a certain employee: Alizae Fraye."

The woman in question squeaked in terror and instantly had Belén turning in her direction. Belén felt a little guilty since she already knew the woman thanks to her sister. She hoped neither would ever found out about this.

"I don't want to hurt you," Belén clarified. "I'm only here to ask questions."

The woman, a brunette, gave a light nod but it didn't mean she wasn't terrified.

"Belén, there's about two minutes before the police get there," Felicity called from the earpiece.

"Get in, and get out," added Oliver.

"A woman in purple, shoots some sort of purple gumbo, she comes here to steal every month or so. Correct?"

Alizae nodded.

"But she never hurts anyone does she?"

Alizae shook her head.

"And whenever she comes in, she always come straight for you. Why?"

Alizae shrugged. "I…don't know…" she croaked.

Belén looked around the room, the people paralyzed with fear of what she would do next. "There has to be a connection here," her voice hardened intentionally. "A woman with powers comes in here every month - always on the same day and time - and she takes a couple priceless jewelry then makes a clean getaway."

"She knows what she's coming for," the guard that had tried to shoot her was now helping, apparently.

That was a good thing, Belén smiled.

"It's like she knows where everything is," Belén acknowledged his help with a light nod.

"From the moment she got here," a third employee spoke up, a male, "she knew where everything was. Like...like…"

"She had already visited the store before," Belén finished for him. "See, I can understand that. She's clever, she scopes out her place before robbing it. What I can't understand is why she always comes to _you_ ," she pointed a pink nailed polished finger at Alizae. "Why you?"

"I swear to you I don't know," Alizae whimpered.

"And she doesn't hurt anyone either," Belén continued on. "This is like a normal day at the grocery store for her. But see, here's another thing: she's big and bad with her powers so she can do far better than measly jewelry here - no offense," she quickly added, "Why settle for this?"

"She says she doesn't like doing it," Alizae dared to reveal. "I can see it too - in her eyes - that she does it with hesitancy."

"Useful," Belén thought and looked up at the cameras. With both her hands she shot out vines and smashed them to pieces. "Sorry," she honestly said to the others, "I didn't steal nor hurt anyone but I still don't want trouble. This was interesting, thank you all."

With a wide smile, she let her vines enclose themselves around her body and in a snap, they fled the building.

~ 0 ~

"I should be leaving," Belén walked alongside Nina, the latter in regular clothes. The dark, lonesome street allowed for an uninterrupted conversation between the two.

"If you truly believed that then we wouldn't have left our suitcases back at my place," Nina smirked.

"Yeah, but...I don't know, I'm nervous," Belén bit on one of her nails.

"Course you are - you've changed."

"Thanks, Nina," Belén rolled her eyes. "I feel better, and I'm _going_ to be better. It's just seeing them all…"

The two women trailed off at the sound of a police sirens. They exchanged concerned looks before running towards the scene. It appeared there had been an explosion of some sort. The consequences were grave but what really took it home was the man hanging onto a loose window scaffold.

"Help! Help!" the man frantically cried from the top.

"That's gotta be at least forty feet high," Nina raised her eyebrows.

Belén stepped fowards, turning her palms upwards. "Hmm…"

"Bells, don't," Nina warned when she saw the idea forming into Belén's mind.

"Why not? This is why I left in the first place. Besides, it's not the first saving I'd be doing."

"Yeah, but do this, and you could get caught by that someone you say you're not ready to bump into."

"That man is going to die and I'm not gonna let it happen because of silly nervousness." Belén made her declaration with the utmost honesty. Without hearing Nina's next response, she rushed off to go help the poor man that was literally hanging from a tearing rope.

She tilted her head and cracked her neck, simultaneously stretching her hands. Nina was right, the man was up at least forty levels and she hadn't quite stretched her powers that far. She needed to be extra careful. She cast another look at her hands and saw the same greeness trying to make its presence. _I said **no**. _ She balled them up and backtracked a little before thrusting her right hand forwards and released one of her thick vines. It stuck to the wall like a suckers and she did the same with her other hand, landing the second vine rope-like mass. Using them like anchors, she brought herself up. Ignoring the fact she was oh-so-many-feet high, she got onto the falling scaffold, using one of her vines to keep it to a regular position.

"It'll be alright," she assured the awed and terrified man. "It's gonna feel weird, but I'll get you down," she promised.

Multiple vines extended from her body and wrapped around the man's body. Belén admitted there was the adrenaline she grew to love from doing stuff like this. It was rather wonderful knowing you could have peoples' lives in your hands - or in this case vines - and that you could keep them protected when no one else could.

Those were her thoughts as she watched her vines lower the man down the building. She gently let him down to the ground.

And then she got a crazy idea she knew Nina would scold her about later. She let herself drop headfirst and laughed as she put her hands together. They created an extra thick vine that helped her land with a front handspring move.

It would've been a perfect ending if there hadn't been a watcher nearby.

"Wo-oah…" she sucked in a breath at the sight of her good friend Iris West standing across.

Iris looked wonderstruck of all she saw - and with great reason!

Belén's first instinct was to look down. Her mask would only cover her so much, and she was no where near ready to try her...other side. But, her hair tips were covered with stringlets of roots and flowers till it covered up her identifiable blonde tips.

Iris thought for sure she had squeaked then. Yes, she was sure.

She made a step towards Belén but in the next second vines had entangled themselves around Belén and taken her away from the scene.

~ 0 ~

In Jitters, Barry sat alone at a table waiting for Iris to come over with his ordered coffee. It was a particularly casual day, waiting for STAR Labs to come up with an identity for the person who mysteriously bombed an elite storage room the previous night. This case, however, was more interesting than any other case: the army had come to take it over. Just like that, they swept up the case with all its compartments and took off.

But, Barry managed to snag the most important part of the evidence and got it to STAR Labs right away for analyzation.

"Oh my God," Iris' voice made him snap out of his thoughts. She was coming over with her pot of coffee, but her eyes were stuck past him to the doors. "Barry, look."

He followed her gaze and glanced back to see Nina Clarke coming. On any other occasion, the appearance would've been normal…

* * *

 ** _2 Months ago:_**

 _"Hey," Barry greeted Caitlin as he walked in, the bio-engineer anxiously looking up at him._

 _"How'd it go?" she asked._

 _"Not good," Barry leaned against the side of the desk. "Get this, Nina took an absence of leave-" he did air quotation marks, "-from the hospital this morning. I checked her apartment and she wasn't there anymore."_

 _"That's highly suspicious," Caitlin made a face._

 _"Very," Barry agreed. "Belén leaves last night, and then today one of her friends does the same? And with no specific reason?"_

 _"You think she's where Belén is?"_

 _"Of course. But question is, **where**?"_

 _At that moment, Cisco strode into the room, and he looked nowhere pleased._

 _"How'd it go with you?" Barry asked him, though by the big sigh Cisco gave he could tell it wasn't going to get better._

 _"I talked to Bells' dad and he said he had no idea Belén was going to do this," Cisco plopped down in one of the desk chairs._

 _"Did you believe him?" Caitlin arched an eyebrow._

 _"Yeah, he was looking worried too," Cisco shrugged. "But he knows where she is now-" and just as Barry opened his mouth he added, "-and he said Bells told him not to say anything. She wanted a 'break'."_

 _"Looks like Belén doesn't want to be found," Caitlin concluded with the obvious facts. She leaned back on her chair, sadly smiling at her two friends. "I think we need to respect her decision."_

 _"But that's just it!" Barry exclaimed suddenly, startling the two. "It was a stupid, rash decision! She left the city because of **me**! Because I...I lied."_

 _The pang his heart gave was a painful one._

* * *

"Do you think Bells is back too?" Iris quietly whispered to Barry as the two watched Nina go up to the counter to order.

Out of everyone, Iris was the most concerned of Belén's friends. She really had no idea what possessed Belén to get up and leave the way she had. No one seemed to know where Belén had run off to, nor her reasons. Even her graduation party had been cancelled because of her sudden departure. Her father had picked up her certificate from the office the day before the graduation ceremony took place. As far as Iris knew, Linda had hired some newly graduated student to cover Belén's position in the meantime the woman was gone.

Overall, Iris was confused and she just missed her friend.

"We should talk to her," Iris resolved and glanced at Barry for his opinion. He was mildly glaring at the nurse and while Iris could understand (in some way) his annoyance with the abrupt leave, she hit him in the arm. "It's not her fault Bells left! Don't you dare ruin this," she warned with a finger before going to greet Nina.

Nina wasn't surprised to find the younger woman taking her order. She politely smiled. "Hello, Iris."

"Nina, it's been a long time," Iris mustered her gracefulness and patience for this conversation.

"Has it?" Nina chuckled.

"Only been two months but...who's counting?" Iris chuckled alongside but it was easily fake as Nina's. "Can I get your order?"

"Espresso, please."

Iris nodded and dotted it on the register. "So...are you back in the city for good now?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Nina answered, reaching for her wallet inside her bag. "I had to take care of some personal stuff."

"Did that 'personal stuff' also require Belén?"

Nina didn't seem fazed by the question as she handed Iris a ten dollar bill. Her smile was gone but her voice was still polite. "Actually, it was personal matters for each of us."

Iris accepted the bill and worked with the register. "Was it resolved?"

"Hm, yes, in a way, it was."

"And is she okay?"

"In what fits, Iris, yes. She's finally accepted her brother's death but how well can a sibling be when they accept that their twin is dead and with no recovered body to mourn?"

Iris had held out Nina's change and was left to think about the question with a decent amount of guilt. She had never thought about Belén leaving for her brother. Truthfully, at one point, Iris believed Belén was just doing this on purpose. How was she supposed to know this was about Rayan?

"Is she back now?" she whispered. "Is she back in the city?"

Nina took her change and put it back into her wallet. "I'll wait over there," she pointed to a lonesome table near the doors then left.

Iris glumly went to prepare the espresso. It was then that Barry got up to take his opportunity.

"Hello Barry," Nina greeted without so much of a glance from her phone screen. "How's it going?"

"Are you serious?" the hard tone in his voice made her chuckle.

"Oh, don't tell me you're mad. Out of everyone you are the least person with the right to be mad."

"I don't think it's funny when a friend disappears and has all of us going crazy wondering what happened."

Nina finally raised her eyes to the metahuman, and her sarcasm was no longer with her. "She's fine, Barry. She left because she thought it was the right thing to do for _her_. It has nothing to do with what fell out between you two."

While it did relieve Barry somewhat it wasn't enough. He took a seat across her, earnestly speaking. "Where is she? Where did she go?"

Nina just smiled at him. "You'll see her again, don't worry."

"That's not what I'm asking," Barry snapped. "Where the hell did she go?"

"She won't be the same, though," Nina warned, acting as if Barry hadn't said anything yet.

"That's not what-"

"She's a bit scared though of how you'll react - how everyone will react…"

"Nina!" Barry had slammed a hand on the table, not loud enough to cause a distraction but enough to make the doctor flinch on her spot. "I have spent the last two months going crazy wondering where it is she could've gone to. I get it, I messed up, and she's mad. But the least she can do is give us a call to let us know she's fine."

Nina bit her lip, looking reluctant of her next words. "The thing with her brother, it's part of the reason why she left. I love her, I really do, but I'm afraid what's gonna happen now that...that she's…"

"Now that she's…?" Barry motioned her to keep going.

"Here's your espresso," Iris chirped and set down the coffee cup on the table. She looked between Nina and Barry, getting strange vibes from them. "Um...am I interrupting?"

"No," Nina picked up her espresso and got up. "It was nice seeing you guys. I have to get to my shift. Bye."

"Well that was strange," Iris sighed and looked over to Barry. "Did she tell you anything about Bells?"

Barry was left in an even fouler mood than before. "No," he answered shortly and also got up.

"Do you think if we-"

"I have to go Iris," was his last statement before promptly (and what Iris deemed as rudely) leaving as well.

He had only made it halfway down the street when his phone vibrated. As soon as he answered it, Cisco quickly told him of the last known address (which in reality was an emergency contact) of their new metahuman in the city. As it turned out, Bette Sans Souci had a an address not too far. Getting in the suit, he sped to go find her.

He came into an alleyway where a tall ginger woman had been running from a staircase. She yelped when he came to a stop right in front of her. Immediately, she backtracked but Barry wasn't gonna let her go.

"Bette Sans Souci? I need you to come with me!"

"Don't touch me!" the woman nearly pleaded but Barry grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her forwards.

Her hand landed on his suit's emblem and she blinked with terror as it began shifting into a bright purple. "Get whatever you're wearing off of you. Hurry!"

Barry wasn't one to listen to strangers so quick but just for once he would make an exception. He sped away from her and got the suit off just mere seconds before it exploded into nothing!

Back at STAR Labs, Cisco was trying to get through to Barry while Caitlin assured him everything was fine on the other side.

"Barry? Can you hear me? Barry?"

"There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he's not answering."

And then Barry sped in, going for the spare clothes in one of the side rooms.

"Barry?" Caitlin eyed him curiously as he came back out with pants he surely did not have before and pulling down a gray shirt over himself. "Uh…?"

"Don't ask," Barry mumbled, still not over what happened.

Cisco's eyes roamed the entire room for his crimson suit. "I'm gonna ask. Where's my suit?"

"It's... Gone."

Cisco straightened in his chair, his brow furrowing."What do you mean, it's gone? What did you do with my suit?"

"It blew up, dude. I managed to get out of it before it went, "kaboom."

"My suit went "kaboom"?"

Barry ignored Cisco's processing and walked over to the desk. "Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci. She's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a meta-human."

Dr. Wells came into the main room having heard the revelation. "With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact."

Cisco was scowling by then. "She blew up my suit."

Caitlin rolled her eyes at him. "You have, like, three more."

"Okay, I have two. And I loved that one!"

"All right, what else do we know about her?" Barry asked from the two, now a little more impatient to find her.

Cisco leaned towards one of the computers and began looking up the recent information they had downloaded on the metahuman. "Oh, I don't know. She's pure evil. We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the pipeline. No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it…" his irritated tone vanished upon seeing a picture of the mysterious Bette, "Unless she looks like that."

"I don't think she meant to hurt me," Barry admitted to them.

"Well, her being a meta-human explains General Eiling's interest in her," Wells remarked.

At that moment, Joe came in and didn't look too surprised of what he'd heard so far. "And why he stole the case from us. He didn't want anyone to know what she could do. So... Human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City."

"Yes, and General Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight."

"We have to find her before he does."

"Barry?" Joe asked once the others got to work. "Can I see you for a second?" Barry nodded and followed him out into the corridor. "We've got a problem with Iris. She saw a metahuman - upclose at a police scene."

"I wasn't there, it wasn't me," Barry's hands shot up in immediate innocence.

"I know it wasn't you - it was a woman, least that's what Iris says."

"Well, maybe it was this one," Barry gestured to the room but Joe shook his head.

"This one bombs, the one that Iris saw apparently shoots plants or something."

Barry stiffened, not that Joe noticed. He was too preoccupied with his daughter at the moment.

"She's writing a blog now-"

"I already talked to her about that," Barry reminded, though his thoughts were beginning to roam from the conversation.

"Talk to her again. And be more convincing."

"Okay," Barry nodded and was about to go back inside when he caught Joe's sharp look. "Oh! You mean, right now?"

"Yes, I do," Joe motioned him to get a move on.

"Alright," Barry hurriedly left.

~ 0 ~

Sticking to his word, Barry was back at Jitters and desperately trying to get Iris to sway from her sudden passion.

"You've got to stop writing about these people - they don't exist."

Iris scoffed and turned to him, lowering the tray she was carrying. "I saw one of them, alright? They do too exist. I went to that crime scene thinking just maybe I would get a glimpse of the Streak but instead I saw this woman who singlehandedly saved a man from plummeting to his death. She wore this green and pink outfit…"

While Barry was listening attentively to her description of this new metahuman (that clearly was not Bette) he played it off with disbelief. "I mean, Iris, come on. You were drinking last night at the bar," he reminded her of their previous night out with their friends.

"I was not drunk, and I know what I saw," Iris said with a hint of annoyance. "It was amazing. I watched her dive from a window scaffold and landed perfectly on her feet and she only used these vines," she turned over one of her palms for gesture. "They just shot out from her hands! And body! It was incredible, Barry!"

All the details began ringing a red alert in Barry's mind.

It was just oddly familiar.

"I want to have people know that there are these extraordinary people out there saving us. What is wrong with you?" Iris stopped to give Barry an accusing look. "This is important to me. Why can't you be more supportive?"

"I'm just... you haven't even put your name on it. How serious can you be about an anonymous blog?"

Iris had enough of all the useless questionnaires and comments on something she was really interested in. "Okay, you know what? Our entire lives, you couldn't scream loud enough that the impossible existed. And now it's actually happening in Central City. I have proof of it, and you don't want to know about it? That doesn't make sense, Barry. So when you're ready to tell me what this whole routine is really about, then we can talk."

In other occasions, her being mad at him would've been bigger but all Barry could think of was the last time he had heard of a metahuman with _vines_.

Well, he wasn't going to sit there and watch her laugh at him like that.

~ 0 ~

"I'm looking through them, Felicity," Belén was in Nina's apartment, sitting at the kitchen table with a laptop in front of her. She was talking to the blonde techie over the cellphone while looking at a previous robbery of the jewelry store she visited last night. "I just don't understand what exactly I'm looking for this time. Oliver's already had me scour through them for clues till I broke down and you know it."

"Well, here's the one I wanted you to look at," Felicity said and soon Belén got the ping of an e-mail alert. She opened it up to find a video, security footage, of the Stagg building.

"Felicity, what am I looking at exactly?" Belén asked in confusion as she watched the video. It had a viewpoint from a nearby building by Stagg's, and as the seconds went by Belén saw the woman in purple standing at the rooftop of a building that would be just across Stagg's.

"These are a couple of videos I montaged," Felicity began to explain. "See, this one was when there was the incident with Simon Stagg and the tons of clones."

"Okay…"

"Now this is the night where Barry fought said metahuman, and do you see what's happening in the meantime of this fight?"

"Nothing," Belén shrugged. "She's just...watching."

"Exactly - she's _watching_. And do you know what else I've picked up on?"

"No, but please tell."

"There's other security video feed of her just 'happening' to be around when there's a metahuman or robbery going on. It's not always but there's a good 80% she will be there."

"She's got no life, then," Belén joked to herself.

It was short lived as a strong wind blew everything save the computer off the table.

"Belén? Is something wrong?" Felicity's voice barely made a noise in the already silent apartment. "Belén…?"

Barry had entered in a completely abrupt and rude way into the apartment, but he currently did not care. Belén ended her call with one click of a finger and put the phone down.

"Barry…?" She rose from her chair, unsure of how to even talk to him anymore.

Barry was in the same predicament, unsure how to address the woman across him. There was a turmoil of emotions washing over him and he didn't know which one was the one he felt the most.

"How did you...how did you know to find me here?" Belén discreetly closed the laptop beside her.

"I saw Nina earlier today," Barry said quietly. He was staring hard at her, studying her appearance for anything that would tell him (or give him a clue) as to where it was she had gone off to.

Belén nervously bit her lip, her feet locked on the spot she was in. "No one knows I'm here, though. My Dad...he doesn't know yet. Can you please not tell him anything?"

Barry surprised her by lightly laughing. "I'm sorry, after everything you're asking me a favor?"

There was the seeping anger Belén had been expecting.

"I know I don't deserve anything but it's important," she whispered.

"You don't get to ask favors from me anymore."

"I know-"

"No you don't!" Barry snapped. "You _left_ , Belén! You left without saying a word to _any_ of us! One call," he pointed at her, "One measly call to let us know you were fine would've been enough. It didn't even have to be to _me_!"

"I told my father to tell you all," Belén meekly reminded.

"Getting a _message_ isn't the same thing!" Barry's voice kept rising and rising, and he knew it was completely out of his character to do so but looking at her and seeing she was fine made it all the more angering when he remembered how guilty he'd been (and still was) for causing her to leave. "I thought we were friends-"

"So did I," Belén finally made a comeback. "I thought we were friends but then I came to the shocking surprise he'd been laughing at me behind my back by pretending to be some super hero helping me."

"And you thought the best way to get back at me was to flee the city?"

"My choice in leaving was _not_ about _you_!"

"Yeah, right. Admit it Belén, you wanted to hurt me like I hurt you."

Now it was Belén growing angry, and unlike Barry she had less control of her feelings. She could feel that other _side_ trying to creep its way to the surface. "Stop it! I left for other reasons that didn't include some silly revenge!"

"Are you sure about that?" Barry challenged her, taking a couple steps towards her. Her teary eyes were not going to get him to back down, not this time. "What I did was wrong, I admit that and I take my

responsibility for it. But what you did, hurt not only me, it hurt everyone else. You left us, and you made me feel like it was because of ME me. Do you know what feels like?"

"It wasn't like that," Belén persisted, but her voice was faltering.

Barry shook his head. "And then you come back as a metahuman - because don't you dare lie to me and say you aren't - and let Iris see you."

Belén's eyes shot up to him, surprised he'd figured it out and that he knew of the incident with Iris. "You looked at the results…"

"No, I promised you I wouldn't so I didn't. Iris told me about it, and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out if you were at the scene of your kidnapper's vacation home. You have powers and you've been using them!"

"And I suppose you're gonna fault me again because I didn't tell you?" Belén arched an eyebrow. "Because remember, when I met you I was under the belief you were just Iris' best friend who worked as a forensics."

"But now that you know, and that you're in this world, you need to know that Iris _cannot_ know anything about us."

"What-"

"Joe doesn't want her to know and we have to respect that. But if she keeps writing about this, about you and me and anyone else, she's going to get hurt!"

"But I didn't plan on seeing her, honest! Like I said, no one knows I'm back!"

"I'm just giving you one warning, Belén. This was it."

Belén confusingly watched him head for the door. "So that's just it? You're not going to talk to me anymore?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Barry glanced back, reminding her of her requests. "You said if I talked to you again I would be punched."

"I was angry with you, Barry! I could've said a lot of things I clearly didn't mean!"

"Now _I'm_ mad at you, and I think I know I mean it when I say don't talk to me."

Belén stifled a sob as she made to come after him. "B-Barry!"

But he was already gone.

Through her feelings, she felt that same feeling start at her hands. Gasping she looked at her hands and was horrified to see that emerald green beginning to fully cover her skin this time.

"No! No! No! No!" she dashed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut with lock. She put herself in front of the mirror to see parts of her face also sporting some blotches of green. "Go away! Go away!" she shouted at it and screwed her eyes shut, hands firmly gripping the edges of the sink.

"Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away," she repeated like a chant.

~ 0 ~

"And you said that to her? _All_ of that?" Caitlin was gaping towards Barry after hearing the incident between him and the newly arrived Belén.

"Not cool, dude, not cool," Cisco said distractedly while recording Bette's numbers onto the computer.

They had finally met with Bette, under some bad circumstances, and took her back to STAR Labs to get a clearer understanding of her abilities. But due to General Eiling still after her, they were forced to take her into the training area a bit quicker than planned so that Dr. Wells could deal with the man.

"Barry, I don't think that was the best way to greet her," Caitlin gently said, understanding where Barry's anger was coming from.

"I couldn't help it!" Barry exclaimed and paced back and forth beside the table of computers and other objects for Bette's exams. "I was so mad that she came back like nothing!"

"Well, did you expect her to be begging for forgiveness?" Cisco asked, still appearing to be annoyed with him.

"No, Cisco, but I did expect some sort of explanation."

"So did you let her talk? Because you have a tendency not to when you're mad at someone."

"You know, it sounds like you're taking her side, Cisco," Barry suspiciously said, crossing his arms.

"I'm not," Cisco clarified before anything else was said. "It's just...I don't think what needed to be said was said. I wanna talk to Bells and find out why she left."

"Good luck," Barry scoffed and walked off to go see how Bette was doing.

"That went well," Caitlin remarked and eyed a boomerang Cisco had apparently brought for the tests. Bette was supposed to throw the objects to the sky for them to explode but clearly Cisco forgot about that small detail.

"I can't believe he shouted a her," Cisco muttered.

"Look, on some level, it _is_ understandable. We can't blame Barry after these two months. He felt guilty, and he still does. What Belén did was wrong. What did she expect was going to happy?"

~ 0 ~

"What did you expect was going to happen, hm?" Nina stood in front of the couch where Belén was sitting.

The ombre-blonde was sitting cross-legged, currently sniffing as tears fell from her eyes.

"You left abruptly and you didn't even bother giving your friends a call. It's a natural response to be angry."

"I know I deserved it, but it doesn't mean it didn't hurt," Belén meekly argued.

Of course she had expected for Barry and the others to be angry with her decision and the way she executed it. She wasn't expecting some sort of big welcome back nor immediate friendship. Those were the first warnings Felicity, and then others of Starling City told her, but she was firm on her decision.

She still was.

"It doesn't help to cry, Belén," Nina sighed and walked into the kitchen.

"There's nothing more I can do," Belén finally looked up. "I messed up and these are the consequences that I have to endure."

"By crying?" Nina rolled her eyes and plopped down at the table, re-opening the laptop Belén had forgone a while ago.

"Well, I'm sorry but not everyone can be rigid like the great Nina Clarke is," Belén rolled her eyes but the statement seemed to only amuse Nina.

"I'm only saying instead of sitting on my couch and sobbing for your woes, go out there and do something about it."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but I would start by returning your life to normal. Right now, you're stressed and your mind is clouded with Rayan's case."

"That's because he's my only priority right now. I'm not gonna get distracted."

Nina shook her head and raised her eyes from the computer screen for a moment. "Being what we are - metahumans - is already weird and distancing. Don't add unnecessary negatives to it."

Belén leaned back on the cushion, still pouting. Nina went back to the computer and for a while there was no more conversation. It wasn't until Nina gasped in what sounded like horror that Belén forewent her sad thoughts.

"Nins, what is it?"

"Your friend Iris really wants to die," Nina was blinking wide-eyed at the screen. Belén got up and rushed to go see what was Iris had done now.

"Oh my God," Belén said with a mixture of horror and weariness.

Iris had posted a new article for her blog...with her _name_ written on it this time.

"She just doesn't get the memo," Nina scrolled through the newest post.

"Barry told me Iris posted a new thing about me, but I didn't really think about what would happen."

"This can't keep going. One of these days someone will make the connection she knows 'the Streak' and now _you_."

"It's my fault," Belén walked away from the table, running her hands through her now messy hair. "And you know, no matter what happens I don't want Iris getting hurt when she's the least one who deserves it."

"So what are you planning on doing?" Nina asked, genuinely curious.

"Exactly what Barry did to me when I most needed it," Belén turned around with a wide smile.

"Oh, no…"

~ 0 ~

Later that night, Iris was busy cleaning up inside Jitters so that she could properly close down and leave. There was a light knock on the door followed by a bell chime.

"Sorry, we're closed," Iris called without looking up from the dishes she was collecting.

"I was hoping you would make an exception."

Iris nearly let the cups in her hands fall after seeing several tendrils of vines passing through the doors. The tendrils swirled up from the floor into the shape of a figure until it became the familiar woman in green Iris had seen. "Oh, my God, it's you!"

Belén stood there in her 'vigilante' outfit, with the flower mask around her eyes. Her hair was covered in the strings of roots that hid her blonde tips.

"You remember from one night?" Belén mused, her modulated voice coming as not a surprise for Iris.

"Actually," Iris beamed and put down her glasses to go retrieve her bag behind the counter. "I knew you were familiar from somewhere and I couldn't just let it go!"

'Course you couldn't," Belén hid her smile by looking to the side.

Iris had pulled out her computer and set it on the counter. "There have been reportings of a mysterious new addition to the Arrow's team…" she turned the computer over to Belén's direction, "...it's you. Isn't it?"

Belén took no steps towards her. Instead, she extended a hand and with a vine sprouting from her palm she brought the computer over to her. She looked intently onto the screen where several news pictures had caught her in low resolution pictures.

"It's so you," Iris concluded on her own after taking a moment to really study the woman.

"Yes," Belén saw no point in denying what was so clear on picture. Slowly, she returned the laptop to the counter. "You looked me up?"

"Of course," Iris said as it were obvious. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you don't know me, no one knows me."

"I know. Right now, it's all about the Streak. But…" Iris came around the counter with a wide smile, "...girls need the recognition too, right? I saw you save that man last night, and I've been going through some of Star City's news online. You're a hero, just like the Streak. What have you been doing over at Star City though? Or, why did you decide to come here now?"

Belén sucked in a breath. "Can we speak somewhere else? Like, the rooftop?"

Iris nodded her head, forgetting her duties and motioning to the staircase leading up to the roof. Belén just smiled and motioned her go first. Iris did so and was halfway up when she realized the woman had never followed. She ran up the remainder of stairs and came to the surprise of finding Belén already waiting for her.

"How did you…?" Iris laughed, looking around for a clue as to how she was beaten. "How did you do that? You're fast too?"

Belén sat on the ledge of the building, leaning forwards over her knees. "It's much more fun using my vines to climb buildings. I'm no Streak but I do set my own speed records when I turn vine-ish…"

Iris figured and laughed again.

Belén remained serious and stood up. "I need you to stop writing about me, about any of us with powers. The Streak agrees."

"You know each other?" Iris brightened up, and Belén inwardly smacked herself on the face. Apparently, that was all that Iris had heard from her statement. "Are you like...like some superhero duo now? Or-"

"Iris," Belén raised a hand to cut in, "please just listen. It's not safe for you to keep writing about us."

"But there are a lot of people who need someone like you guys right now. To know that you're out there."

"Maybe not," Belén countered. "This writing stuff, isn't it becoming a problem for you and your family? I would assume they would be concerned for your safety. And I have to be honest, putting your name on this newest article wasn't your smartest idea."

"You read my article?" Iris gasped.

Again, she only heard the last of Belén's words.

"You are a fantastic writer and I have no doubt that you will go on to do amazing things in journalism...but just _not_ with these articles."

"Why are you so keen on me letting it go? Don't you want people to know about you? To know about the Streak?"

"Personally, I haven't the faintest idea why you decided to post something about _me_ ," Belén put a hand over her chest.

"Because you're just as amazing," Iris shrugged, coming to take a step towards her. "You climb buildings with _vines_! Not to mention, you actually turn _into_ vines! You are amazing!"

Belén bitterly laughed, and though it was dark Iris could clearly see the woman's green eyes glossy.

"What's the matter?" she gently asked. "You don't believe it?"

Belén looked at her friend with a sad smile. "You don't know me, Iris West. I am not grand, I am not deserving of any articles written for me. You want a hero, you go to the Streak. Me? I'm not a good person."

"Yes, you are," Iris was quick to interject, the soft smile across her lips nearly making Belén believe it. "Why wouldn't you believe it?"

"A good person doesn't hurt their friends nor family - that is exactly what I've done," Belén bit her lip, hating herself for talking about this...but her lips wouldn't stop opening. "I did a bad thing a while back. I was mad at a friend and I made a decision that same day that I knew would hurt him back." Belén then lowly laughed when she made the realization. "I guess, in a way, I wanted him to hurt like he made me hurt. But my decision didn't just hurt him, it hurt a lot more people...and I don't know how to fix it."

Iris wished nothing more than to go over and hug this mysterious woman who in reality seemed a lot more vulnerable than what the media portrayed. It was just a reminder that heroes were still human. "That doesn't make you a bad person," Iris gently declared. "Everyone makes mistakes, but what matters is how you intend on fixing them. This doesn't stop you from being a hero in my eyes."

"I'm not a hero, Iris," Belén reiterated.

Iris smirked, tilting her head in that way that told Belén it was already set in stone. "Too late. I just need a name to call you. Do you have one?"

"No," Belén chuckled and sniffed. "Because, as I said, I'm not a hero. I'm not doing this for glory or recognition."

"So why do you?"

"For someone very important in my life," Belén thought to her elder twin brother.

"Yeah?" Iris stepped forwards again. "Well then hear my side. I have this friend, and he had something terrible happen to him when he was a kid. His whole life, he's been telling stories about this impossible thing. And people laughed at him. And shrinks analyzed him. And he's been searching for an explanation ever since. But now, suddenly, it's like he's lost his faith. But you and the Streak... you two are proof that he wasn't crazy. Help me save my friend."

Belén could've burst into more sobs if she didn't have more control of herself. "He is a very lucky guy, you know."

"Believe me, he's not," Iris confided in a dramatic whisper. "He's overly clumsy and everything happens to him whenever it comes to dropping something, crashing into someone, or even just making friends. But this thing that happened to him as a kid, I can help him with that. This is why I'm doing my blog, please help me."

Belén raised a turned palm and slowly created a small, pink flower. But it was a specific flower, one that Iris saw a couple times.

"Is that an Azalea?" she pointed.

"Mhm. It's the source of my powers, apparently," Belén had a vine take the flower to Iris. "The thing about these flowers, they're adorable and they're beautiful...but they are also known for their deadly side."

Iris took the fragile flower into her hands and looked at Belén, confused.

"What I'm intending on doing others may call a suicide mission. I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire because of an article you wrote. Keep the flower, change your blog. Goodbye."

"But-" Iris called to the woman in vain as she dropped from the ledge again. She looked at her new flower and walked back into the building.

~ 0 ~

"Maritza's been slacking," Angie put a laptop in front of Rayan Palayta. "There's a new metahuman in town as reported by Iris West. Doesn't your sister know that girl?"

Rayan snatched the laptop to his lap and read the article Iris had written. "This one's different. She's helping the Streak. See, this is what I knew would happen if we let that speedster keep doing his thing."

Angie got up from the couch, looking suddenly determined. "Let me take care of her. I've been dying to finally debut out in the streets."

Rayan gave her a questionable scoff. "You? Are you serious?"

Angie nodded. "Well, she's not going to want to help you take down Wells and STAR Labs, might as well get her out of the way."

"Fine, but you'll eliminate her without a mistake," Rayan warned.

"Watch me," Angie smirked, more than ready to go out.

~ 0 ~

Belén wasn't sure who'd she find in STAR Labs that early noon she walked in. She didn't exactly know what she was going to tell anyone, much less how to even greet them. But she figured she had to start somewhere.

"Hello?" she peered inside the cortex room, only to find a ginger woman inside.

Bette glanced back and immediately took a defensive stance against her. Belén came out from the side with her hands raised.

"I'm a good one, promise," she said, but Bette still didn't look very convinced.

"Belén," Dr. Wells' voice startled the ombre-blonde from behind and made her spin around to meet the man.

"Dr. Wells," Belén put a hand over her chest, "Sorry, you just…"

"It's nice to see you back," he remarked as he wheeled further inside the room, giving Bette a reassuring nod everything was fine.

"Um, yeah," Belén sighed and turned in their direction. "I think you're probably the only one who can say that about me."

"Nonsense, I'm sure Cisco would be delighted to see you're back. He's in the experiment room if you're looking for him."

"Yeah, actually, I was," Belén glanced towards Bette. "Um, hi. I don't think we've met yet."

"Bette," the ginger said, but she didn't seem quite interested in making conversation. It worked just fine for Belén as she was more interested in seeing her friends.

"Belén," Wells called just as she crossed the doorway, "I know you must be having trouble adjusting to your abilities but please to take in consideration that STAR Labs is always here to help you."

Belén softly smiled at the kind words. "Thank you, Dr. Wells. I may just take your words to heart."

"We'll see what we can do," Wells reassured her and she went on just slightly happier than before. How could she know that he actually could care less whether her abilities developed or not? The only reason he extended the offer was for appearances and because of who she would end up being in the future.

Not to mention the losses she would end up suffering.

~ 0 ~

Cisco was focused hard on some sort of device in his work room when he heard a knock on the door behind.

"Can I come in?" Belén's voice startled him enough to drop what he was holding. She nervously smiled his way as he turned on his chair.

"Belén!"

Belén was relieved when Cisco rushed to meet her with a tight hug. There had to be someone who would be happy to see her right?

"Cisco, it's so good to see you," she pulled away and chuckled. "I missed you."

"Maybe next time you shouldn't leave!" Cisco playfully replied with and led her to a chair next to his.

"You're mad too," Belén sighed and sat down.

"I'm not mad, I'm just...so confused. Why'd you do it? Barry thinks it's because he didn't tell you about...you know…"

"Look, my decision may have taken that as part of the motive but it was also to learn to control myself, to learn how to fight." Belén lightly smiled and put a hand on the table. She let the tips of her nails release thin, small vines that soon rushed to cover up a book nearby. "Two months ago, I could barely do this."

"Barry was right, you _were_ a metahuman," Cisco gawked. "Why did you keep it a secret? We could've helped you."

"Like I told Barry earlier, for me you guys were all just regular people. How could I go up to any of you say 'Oh, by the way guys, I seemed to have developed plant powers'. That's not exactly something easy to say. The only reason Nina knows is because she covered for me at the hospital."

"And she's the he only one that knows…?"

"Yes," Belén eyed him with plead, "And I beg you not to tell anyone out of this building. My dad still thinks I'm at Starling City with my friend Laurel and my mom - as of yesterday night - thinks I'm back with my dad."

"Neither knows where your are then?"

"Not even my sister. And they can't know.'

"But why?"

"Because I have to do something that isn't safe and I don't want any of them getting hurt."

"But...if you're doing this then you're gonna get hurt...and none of us want that."

Belén sighed, giving him a sad look in return. "I don't think 'everyone' can be spoken for."

Cisco immediately understood and reached for her hand, giving a warm pat. "Hey, look, Barry's going to cool down. But no matter what he's said he wouldn't want you getting hurt."

"I want to believe that," Belén whispered, her eyes drifting to the side as she uncharacteristically became quiet.

It was then that Caitlin happened to walk in, and Belén found herself in another round of questions and explanations. She didn't care, though, she was just relieved that Caitlin hadn't expressed any hostility against her (though she knew she very well deserved it). They spoke briefly about her powers, seeing

Belén wasn't very willing to release specific information about that side just yet. Their conversation steered more towards what she was doing in Starling City for the two past months, but even those were given short sentence answers.

They moved back to the main room, where Cisco came to the disappointing news that Bette had decided to leave.

"That's funny," Belén remarked by the side of Cisco's chair, the latter silently pouting for his loss, "She didn't mention anything about leaving when I bumped into her earlier."

"She wasn't doing well," Dr. Wells briefly explained. "Bette's metahuman abilities weren't exactly the best."

"How do you mean?"

"To make it short, Bette is literally a bomb," Caitlin made a face. "Anything she touches goes boom in about five seconds."

"Wow," Belén raised her eyebrows, "That can't be easy. Even with humans?" she asked for a clarification.

"Aha…"

"Ouch," Belén comfortingly placed a hand over Cisco's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Cisco. I'm sure-"

"Don't use the 'there's other fish in the sea' line on me," he playfully warned her, making her chuckle.

Her laughter was cut short when Barry walked into the room. She locked eyes with him and so she straightened up, meekly bidding goodbye. "I should get going…"

"Stay," Caitlin was the one to say, briefly glancing at Barry in a warning manner. She was not going to stand for a childish act from neither side.

"Where's Bette?" Barry decided to focus on anything else that wasn't Belén.

"She left," Cisco answered glumly.

"What do you mean? Where did she go?"

"She didn't say," Dr. Wells gave him the same answer he'd given to the others earlier.

"Well, where the hell could she be? We have to find her, she can't be on her own." Barry walked over to the desk, intending on starting a search for her. Cisco jumped on the opportunity to see the woman again and quickly went to do it himself.

"I got back on the military feed. Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette."

"She's turning herself in," Caitlin realized and quickly looked at the others, all silently agreeing that was most certainly not going to happen.

"She's with the _military_?" Belén gaped, her eyes widening. "Barry, you can't go in alone. That's too dangerous."

Barry ignored her in favor of retrieving his suit. It had been left out in plain sight now that Belén knew the secret. Iris never came to the building as they had noticed long ago.

"Barry!" she cut him once he returned in the suit. "For God's sake, you're angry with me fine, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help you."

They had a mini-staredown that neither seemed keen on backing down from. Barry was silently wondering where Belén acquired this new sense of boldness she most certainly didn't own two months ago. He left the thought when he remembered Bette was going to get herself into trouble. Without saying a word, he sped out of the room.

Belén bitterly laughed as she spun towards the doors. "He's not getting rid of me that easily."

"What are you planning…?" Cisco recognized that idea expression that was currently taking over her face.

"I learned a new trick while I was gone," Belén gave him a sideways smirk. "Can you give me the location please?"

~ 0 ~

Under certain influence, Bette had planned a fake surrender with General Eiling by the waterfront of the city. But of course, the older man didn't believe it. That was why he was trying to be smart by pitching her an idea he thought she couldn't pass up.

"All over the world, people are plotting to destroy our country. To end our lives. Brave American soldiers are gonna die in that fight, but they don't have to. Because of you, we could have victory."

"All I've ever wanted was to make the world a safer place. And it will be when you're not in it." Bette chucked towards him and the rest of the soldiers small, purple glowing spheres that soon exploded and cause mayhem.

While most soldiers were unconscious, Eiling remained half awake. Bette walked towards him with one hand extended. She would blow him into smithereens. Barry arrived and blocked her way.

"What are you doing here?" Bette gasped at the sight of him.

"Being a soldier doesn't mean you're a murderer. Don't become one now."

In the midst of their distraction, Eiling had raised a gun from his spot on the ground and fired. Bette did a spin and fell to the ground with a bullet lodged in the middle of her chest.

Barry panicked and pulled off his mask as he got down beside her. "I'm sorry. I didn't see him."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'm glad you stopped me," Bette flashed a light smile.

"I'm gonna get you back to S.T.A.R. Labs."

Bette shook her head, feeling her strength fading fast. "Barry, Dr. Wells. He... he…" but her eyes closed before she could finish the sentence.

"Barry, watch out!"

Barry glanced over his shoulder in time to see her shoot a couple of thick vines that pinned Eiling to his spot.

"What are you doing here?" Barry hissed, though he still eyed the leather outfit on her. He remembered it vaguely from an old news report Iris once showed him in the past. "You were at Starling City," he whispered his realization. However, the brightening purple glow beside Barry grabbed both their attention.

"She's going to blow up," Belén rushed forwards.

"Guys, we have a problem," Barry spoke with the earpiece.

"Is Bette okay?" came Cisco's anxious voice seconds later.

"No. Eiling killed her. She's glowing. She's gonna detonate."

Caitlin gasped. "Oh, my God, a mass that size, the explosion, it would be... Devastating. Barry, you have to get her away from the city.

"But there's no time…"

Belén glanced towards the waterfront and suddenly shifted to Barry. "Random question...but can you run on water? You know, like they do in the movies?"

At first, Barry was intending on scolding her for asking such a ridiculous question at a time like this...but then he understood. "How fast do I need to go to run on water?" he quickly asked of the STAR Labs employees.

Cisco began making the calculations. "Assuming your weight... 450 pounds of force per step for vertical suspension. Accounting for fluid drag…"

"Approximately 650 miles an hour…" Dr. Wells figured out just before and spoke up.

"You have to outrun the blast or you'll die too," Caitlin warned.

Barry nodded and pulled his mask over his face again. He looked at Belén for a minute, this time not needing to voice his instruction. She got up and took several steps back.

"Stay mad with me if you must, but...good luck," she told him meekly from her spot.

For a minute, Barry's anger faltered. He shook his head then and picked up Bette, finding there was no time to waste. He sped off towards the waterfront, unable to hear Belén's small laugh as she watched him leave.

Her happiness didn't last long when she was shoved to the ground by something behind her. The moment she raised her head she saw blonde streaks of hair.

"Well, this city just doesn't stop with its freaky heroes," the new woman spoke up.

"We're called _metahumans_ ," Belén growled and jumped to her feet. "And let me guess, you work with Plasticine too?"

"I don't work for her," the blonde corrected. Belén desperately tried to get some good clues on this woman's identity, but much like Belén and Barry, her face was covered with a pixelated, half-mask. Her attire was a mixture of bright colors but the gold seemed to be her thing. Still, Belén didn't think too much. She thrust her hand forwards and shot a round of thorns in the woman's way. She was careful to have them miss any of the unconscious soldiers nearby.

While some of them did graze the blonde woman, it didn't cause much pain. "Ha! You're not fighting Plasticine now, sweetheart. I'm Pixel!" She literally disintegrated and reappeared behind Belén to give her a good roundhouse kick.

Belén went down to the ground, groaning. They were momentarily struck with a semi-earthquake which turned out to be the reverberation of Bette's explosion from the water. Pixel saw the Streak making way back to them, while simultaneously trying to evade the large wave behind him.

"Better get on with it!" she smirked but Belén shot back with a vine, slamming her down to the ground.

Belén didn't give her a chance to fight back and punched the woman out cold with another vine, least that's what she thought. Pixel, holding back her groans, reached for something in her back.

"Don't get near her!" Barry's sharp, irritated shout made Belén flinch and freeze on her spot. "She's dangerous."

"This isn't Plasticine!" Belén turned to him. "This is someone new! Don't you see? They're gaining numbers! And I have to know what it's got to do with my brother! I'll-"

A second gunshot rang in the air.

Belén gasped before falling over.

Barry acted fast and sped towards her, catching her mere inches from the ground. Her mask has dissolved into nothing, giving a clear view of her face.

"Oh my God…" Pixel muttered from her spot on the ground, her hand still holding the gun.

Normally, Barry would've fought off the man until he had answers but Belén's current condition required immediate attention. Without saying a word, he sped out of the place.

~ 0 ~

The first thing Belén was aware of when she became mildly conscious was the sharp pain on her lower back. She registered the fact she was on a bed of some sort. So, when she opened her eyes and saw she was in the STAR Labs room, it came as no surprise.

"O-ow…" she groaned and turned her head to the side, hoping that whatever hurt just stopped.

"You can't heal fast, can you?"

"Hmm?"

Barry was leaning against the threshold, his arms crossed. Belén could only look at him for so long before remembering all of that day.

"My genes didn't change like yours did," she replied quietly, her eyes drifting to a metal, wheeled table against a wall on her left. "Though my body does seem act more like a mushy ground for light injuries, more severe ones will affect me like normal."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Um...there was Pixel, and then...I punched her...then you came, and...there was a funny noise in the air…"

"You were shot," Barry reminded, slowly leaning off the hinge.

"Hmm," Belén mused with a crooked smile. "I suppose this was all planned by Plasticine. It only makes sense."

"Why would they want you dead?" Barry asked the pressing question.

"It's kind of obvious, Barry. They're bad guys, it's what they do."

"Don't insult my intelligence," Barry shook his head. "Funny thing, I was going over Iris' blog and it just so happens she posted something new about a certain metahuman...that arrived from Starling City."

"Can we not do-"

"You left Central City with Felicity, didn't you?"

And there was the ringing question Belén had dreaded of the moment she returned.

"Yes, yes I did," she whispered.

"All this time I have felt completely awful about our argument that day. I understand it was difficult for you to forgive me for keeping all this-" he gestured to the lab "-a secret from you. I get it. But you did _not_ have the right to turn the tables on me." By this time, he had begun to pace and Belén's eyes struggled to follow him throughout the room. "Because I don't care what you say, you _were_ trying to get payback. But to put yourself in danger by actually going with the Arrow - and don't deny that's where you went because the news reports say otherwise - was completely ridiculous! I know the Arrow, I know what he does, and what he does is _not_ what you should be learning!"

"You're right," Belén finally inputted a word, "about almost everything."

"Well…" Barry made a face at her, intending on staying mad but the way her glossy green eyes were looking at him made it more difficult. He exhaled dramatically and walked over to a chair, bringing it beside her.

"I did leave to get payback, and for that I'm sorry," Belén sighed. "But that wasn't my main reason. I realized that I didn't have control over myself, emotionally and physically."

"You're a metahuman, we could've helped you."

"No, you couldn't have. You would go incredibly easy on me and who would win there? Caitlin would go all 'mom' on me whenever I got a scratch. Cisco...well, Cisco would be the worst of them all. I love him but he's an overprotective friend. The only one that would perhaps help me for real would be Dr. Wells. Going with Felicity seemed like the only logical thing to do. It wasn't easy to convince Oliver - er, the Arrow - to help me, but Felicity stepped in and then my friend Laurel. When he agreed he saw me as nothing more than a student. There was no easy win, no light training. That is what I needed."

"And in the meantime not even a call ever crossed your mind? We were worried sick over you, Belén. Having your father tell us you were fine wasn't what we were looking for."

"I'm sorry…"

"You should be," Barry said firmly, but this time Belén noticed there was a lighter tone in his voice.

"I''m sorry I made you feel bad for two months. You have every right to be mad with me," Belén sighed in resignation.

"I was mad...and then someone shot you. I lost someone I barely started considering a friend, I don't really want to lose someone I've known longer."

"I wouldn't like to lose a friend like you either…"

There was a minute of silence afterwards.

"How about we move forwards, then?" Barry asked, giving her a light smile. "Maybe we can get back to where we were before all this happened."

Belén chuckled, and for a moment Barry couldn't tell if it was a genuine laugh or if it was an after effect of the anesthesia Nina put on her earlier. "Barry, I think that's quite impossible. You now run faster than the speed of light, and I'm part plant. I don't think we can ever get back to where we were."

"Sorry, Belén…"

"You know…you can start calling me Bells again if you'd like. My friends usually do that…"

Barry laughed and nodded his head. "Bells. That does feel nice to say again."

Belén smiled for a moment before feeling another jab of pain on her back. "Oh, that hurts."

"Oh, don't try to move much!" Barry quickly instructed. "The others should be back and Cait will help you with your things."

"Guess it's a good thing no one knows I'm back," Belén forced herself to sit up a little.

"Cisco told me about your little idea and your suicide mission. I don't agree with your strategies."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't ask."

"Belén, you're doing this for Rayan, aren't you?"

The way Belén remained silent told Barry all he wanted to know.

"I thought you gave up on that…"

"Because I couldn't defend myself nor my family," Belén shook her head. "But now that I can, I am going to keep looking for my brother. Plasticine sending Pixel after me is proof enough that there's something going on concerning my brother. I have to find him, whether he's alive or...dead," she gulped at the idea, "But I have to find him so that I can finally put this all to rest."

"You want to find him?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you're not gonna stop at anything?"

"Nope."

"Fine, then STAR Labs is also going to help you."

"What?"

Barry stood up from his chair, looking like there was nothing else to discuss. "Now that you know who I am, and that you do have powers, we can work together - side by side - and find your brother."

"B-Barry, I can't...I can't ask you to do that," Belén said, the idea making he stomach churn.

"It's a good thing I wasn't asking, then," Barry flashed her a smirk.

"But...but you...you can't...n-not…" Belén was left sputtering as Barry turned to leave. "I don't want you helping me!"

"It's too late for that!"

Belén tried getting out of the bed but her back still hurt far too much for any movements like that. She was forced back to her bed. "Barry Allen, you get back here right now!"

Barry listened to her her shouting as he made his way out of the room, wearing a very widened smirk across his lips.

Just one small payback wouldn't hurt anyone.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Wow, yes, uber late on this, but as I have said in a previous story: my school schedule has become rather hectic so from now on updates will be whenever I can! On an unrelated note, I am so excited to finally get to write Belén in her metahuman ways. Her struggle will be _real_. I love my softie OC but she gonna shed some tears :/


	9. A Partner's Beginning

Rayan Palayta couldn't stop reading articles and reports of the new vigilante that had made her debut in Starling City with the Arrow, Black Canary, Speedy and so on. That same vigilante was now one of the top stories being sold by the CC Picture News despite it being weeks after her first initial appearance in the city. Iris West was one of the lead reporters in that area and Rayan couldn't help suspect that the woman had no idea who this new vigilante was.

"So-" Maritza's voice made him look up from the laptop in front of him, "-this is where you're keeping yourself up now?" she made a gesture to the abandoned warehouse they were in. She walked into the small office where Rayan had secluded himself in for almost the entire day - as stated by Angela (or Pixel as she now liked to call herself).

"It was part of the gang of robbers I took care off a while ago," Rayan gave a shrug of his shoulders and clicked the link to a new article on the computer. "Decided to use it since Pixel's beginning to give me headaches," he rubbed his temples where he could feel an echo of said headaches.

"Pixel?" Maritza repeated, musing on what the switch of names could mean. "Is that what you're calling the ex?" Rayan rolled his eyes but said nothing. Instead, he focused on the article that gave origin points of the new vigilante. "Can't say I'm not happy to see that ending," Maritza said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, "Angela's kind of weird, but even I have to say that it's not technically her fault she nearly killed our dear sister."

At the mention of Belén, Rayan's eyes raised from the computer again. His face was stone cold and yet...he was guilty. He was guilty he nearly killed his sister without realizing. He had given the order to eliminate the new vigilante that was seemingly in the city to help out the Flash. He couldn't believe his ears when Pixel had returned with the news that the new vigilante had turned out to be none other than Belén. Rayan had raged, and somewhere along there, had blasted Pixel across her own living room, crashing several of her ornaments.

"If it helps-" Maritza leaned off the wall and moved towards the desk, "-my friend has nothing new to report on Belén. I thought that maybe Belén knew who the Flash was so I set my friend up in her job but she's been perfectly normal with no vigilante business."

"That he can _see_ ," Rayan reminded. "Let's not forget that he's not exactly friends with her."

"Alright, so he becomes closer to her, makes friends with her," Maritza shrugged. "Then what? What are we going to do now that we know Belén is a metahuman?"

"Metahuman," Rayan rolled his eyes at the silly name they'd been branded with apparently.

"Rayan," Maritza called again, sharper. "The plan was to get Belén away from the city but now that it's clear she's not going anywhere, we're going to need to do something else."

"What else can we do?" Rayan rubbed his temples again. That headache was starting to come back. "If she's a meta like us, then we should get her to join us."

Maritza blinked and straightened up. "A-are...are you sure about that? Let's not forget Belén thinks you're dead."

"I know, I know, but...once I explain to her what happened...she'll see why I preferred to stay dead. If she's so keen on finding me...what's the big deal?"

"I think the 'big deal' has to do with that speedster already getting into her head. Let's not forget the fact she's already been a hero in Starling city with the Arrow. Why would she want to join us?"

"Because we're her _family_ _,"_ Rayan stood up from his chair. "Who else would Belén choose over us?"

Maritza leveled his stare for a moment before looking away. "It won't be easy...but...maybe you're right."

"Of course I am," Rayan smirked. "So we should start working on that before she really becomes a hero and loses us."

~ 0 ~

"Cisco, I'm not wearing a skirt," Belén shook her head in the most polite way possible, but the action still had Cisco groaning in frustration. Caitlin sat at the other end of the desk, laughing to herself but giving the appearance of working on something else.

"But why not? It'll be a very pretty skirt, I promise, see?" Cisco gestured to the computer in front of them with the design of what would later become Belén's new super suit.

Now that they had began examining Belén's new biology and grasped a basic understanding of her powers, Cisco felt it was time for her to suit up. He would rather die than let her continue on with the outfit given to her by the 'Arrow cave'. Belén was excited for it, honestly, but they were just having creative differences.

"I'm not wearing a skirt if I'm gonna be out there helping Barry," Belén still refused much to Cisco's dismay.

Cisco made a motion with his hands for them to be calm and start over. "Okay, hear me out now," he said, warning her to let him speak first before she shot him down again. Belén got comfortable in her seat, crossing her arms and legs, to listen to him. "You need your suit to be more open to accommodate your powers. You said your vines can come through your hands and body which means the suit needs to have some openings. True or not true?"

Belén rolled her eyes but gave her confirming nod. "Yes, I know. And I am all for it if it means it'll make it easier to use my powers. That, however, does not mean that I have to go out in a miniskirt. Caitlin?"

Cisco glanced back at the silent brunette who of course had a side to choose. "She's right," Caitlin said with a small smile.

"You can't send me out there barely clothed, Cisco. I fall and I scrape my legs. I like my legs, Cisco, and I want them to be protected. Don't you?" Belén raised a questioning eyebrow. Cisco couldn't help give her legs a look-over. She chuckled and playfully hit him in the arm. "Stop looking at my legs!"

"Then work with me here!" Cisco let his head fall on the desk with a thud, causing Belén to lose it with another round of laughter.

"I think I broke Cisco," she told Caitlin, quite victoriously.

"Oh, he's finally quiet, thank you," Caitlin patted Cisco's back.

"Shut up," came Cisco's muffled order.

"Bells?" Barry had come into the room, making the ombre-blonde look back. He was about to say something when he saw Cisco still with his head on the desk. "What's…"

"I broke the great Cisco Ramon," Belén giggled and poked Cisco on the arm. "And over a skirt."

"Over a skirt?" Barry scoffed and came up to the three.

"When you say it like that of course it sounds bad!" Cisco pulled himself up and shot a warning look to Barry. He would not have Barry also ganging up on him like that.

"Cisco's trying to help me with a new suit," Belén finally explained. "But we seem to have disagreeing ideas…"

"Many," added Caitlin.

"It's not my fault Bells is being complicated!" Cisco exclaimed, earning himself a sharp look from said woman.

"You're the one trying to make me wear a mini-skirt for me to fight crime!"

"A mini-skirt?" Barry raised his eyebrows, barely getting a minute to think about that when someone smacked him on the stomach. He doubled over, groaning.

"That was for _thinking_ about it," Belén got up from her seat then turned to Caitlin. "Honestly, Caitlin, I don't know how you put up with these two."

"I try my best," Caitlin dramatically said, now earning herself some sharp looks from Barry and Cisco.

"Bells, c'mon," Cisco began but the ombre-blonde cut him off.

"No! I don't want skirts," Belén left it clear for him. "I'm not a made of steel, I do get hurt."

Barry was recovering from the blow and exhaled deeply. "Follow her instructions, Cisco, _please_." He then made a gesture to Belén for her to walk ahead.

"Hm," Belén threw him a look before grabbing her bag off the desk.

"Don't forget your treats," Caitlin reminded as she got up and walked across the room.

"Cait, that makes me sounds like a dog," Belén crinkled her nose.

"You know what I meant," Caitlin returned holding three wrapped up bars in her hands. "These should help you with your sugar levels."

"Yay," Belén said meekly as she took the bars and shoved them into her bag. As it turned out, her dizzy spells were part of her new metahuman abilities. Because her body was now divided with new Azalea genetics, her body required more sugar that she was not ingesting.

Cisco joked it was her needing to do photosynthesis.

Belén had promptly smacked him upside the head for it.

The bars that Caitlin and Cisco had made were specifically created to raise her sugar levels on a daily basis and thus prevent anymore side effects from harming her. Belén could definitely go without those min-episodes.

"Let's go," Barry told the ombre-blonde metahuman. She gave him a nod and in a second he had sped them to her block.

"That's still weird," she giggled as they began normally walking towards her house.

"Didn't seem so weird when 'the Streak' did it to you," Barry smirked. "In fact, you looked more in awe. And you certainly liked it."

"Shut up befoe I smack you again," she warned then came to an abrupt stop. "So, um, when exactly were you planning on telling me that you and Iris are on a no talk basis now?"

The question froze Barry in his tracks. He turned around and met her expectant look.

"I know I'm a bit slow sometimes but I've figured it out. It's been a while since I got back, and coincidentally the next day you stop talking to her. What, was it my fault you argued?"

"No," Barry quickly said to her, coming back to her, "It's just…" he sighed, "...she's been writing about us, Bells. Joe asked me to talk to her and it didn't work. I got frustrated with her not listening so I...may have asked her not to talk to me."

"Why would you do that, Barry?" Belén whispered, looking horrified. "She's your friend - practically sister!"

"I know-"

"And if there's anyone you should be upset with that she's still writing it's with _me_! I visited her and now I gave her more fuel. Don't be mad with her. Be made with _me._ "

"No, it's not your fault. I'm genuinely worried about what could happen to her…"

"I get it, don't think I don't. Joe wants to keep his daughter safe and you just want her to be okay. But in the long run, I think it's Iris who should make the decision. I understand completely what it feels like having this passion for writing. It's my life, honestly. And once you find your subject, there is hardly anything anyone can do to make you stop."

"Hardly?" Barry repeated and noticed a strange shift in Belén's face.

"Let's just say...I had to leave some things..." she said and left it to that. "Thanks for bringing me home. Dad's been a bit on the fence of where I'm at now that I'm back. He thinks by having me hitch rides it's a sure way that I'll come home early." Because when she came back to the city, her father had taken the car privileges away for a while. Belén thought that was a bit fair.

"Tell him you were with me then," Barry then blinked when he realized how it came off and immediately set to correct it, but his stammering prevented a full sentence, "I-I m-mean...y-you know...like, uh...l-like...w-well...I mean…"

Belén covered her laugh with a hand and walked past him for her front porch. "I think I'll just say I was with some friends." She turned around, taking small steps backwards to the porch. "Cos if I say I was with the Streak he wouldn't get a kick out of it like others would."

"Yeah…"

"Take my advice about Iris though - just tell her already." And with that, Belén bid him goodnight.

~ 0 ~

Some time later that night, Belén had pulled out her laptop to finish her work for CC Pictures. Her father walked by with a coffee mug and sat down beside her on the couch. When Belén realized he was staring at her she gently closed the lid of her laptop and met his eyes.

"Hi, Dad," a fleeting smile graced her lips. "Can I help you with something?"

"What were you reading?"

"Um, well, to be honest, I was giving Iris' blog a glimpse. She posted something new a couple minutes ago." And Belén was not happy to see it. While she stood by her statements she didn't want Iris getting hurt. Perhaps if she knew the truth it would sway her from that specific topic, or at the very least make her articles more cautiously.

Belén's father sighed and shook his head, clearly disapproving as well. "That girl is just looking for trouble. I like Iris, she's a very sweet young woman but this blog is going to get her in trouble. The city's not safe anymore with all these people with powers. They're all evil."

"Not everyone," Belén softly disagreed.

David scoffed, picking up his mug from the coffee table. "Honey, you've seen the news. Lots of people are getting hurt out there."

"Yes, but many of others are getting saved. Let's not clump all metahumans as evil."

"What?" David gave her a sharp glance.

Belén's eyes widened and coughed nervously. "Nothing. I said we shouldn't brand all people as bad."

David tilted his head and stared another minute at Belén. Sheepishly, she rubbed her arm and tried upholding his look. "Are you okay, Belén?"

"M-me? Yeah, Dad," Belén lightly smiled.

"You know, ever since you got back, you're...you seem different."

"D-different?"

"Yes. Time was you used to be completely engulfed with school and your friends and your internship."

"Dad, I graduated..."

"Yes, but your friends, they're not around anymore."

"What are you talking about? I do have friends-"

"Not the same ones." David put his muttered on the coffee table and shifted in Belén's direction. "Hilary, remember her?"

"Of course I remember Hilary."

"And then Jason, and Meghan, and all the others. They're not around anymore."

Belén sighed. "Dad, Hilary is getting used to her new job across the city. Jason moved and Meghan went on to graduate school. Everyone's got things to do."

"What about Iris?"

"What about her?"

"Haven't seen her in a while either."

"She, um...she's a having some complications with, uh, with Barry. She's not exactly in the talking mood."

"But you are," David gave her another look that she didn't understand. "It's just, since you got back I rarely see you with Iris now. It's either that Caitlin Snow-"

"Dr. Caitlin Snow," Belén wagged a finger. "She didn't go to school for people to overlook her title."

"Right," David playfully rolled his eyes. "Dr. Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon, or Barry. They're not exactly the people I would expect you to be around…"

"They're good people and I like being with them," Belén smiled. "Don't go all 'They're from STAR Labs so they can't be good' on me."

David shook his head. "No, I wouldn't do that. despite what Harrison Wells caused to the city, I do respect his employees' loyalty to him. But sweetie, how long have you known Cisco and Caitlin, again?"

"Ten months."

"And then you met Barry how?"

"Through...Iris…?" Belén was barely making the connections when her father finally explained.

"You've known Iris for years and I don't think it's right you sideline her for these new people you haven't known for long."

"Oh my God Dad!" Belén chuckled. "I am not sidelining Iris for them! I just happen to have, um...a connection with them. That's all."

David raised an eyebrow and said nothing for the next minute. Then suddenly, he asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm fine," Belén couldn't help smile out of flushness.

"Alright," David clapped his knees and got up, appearing to be done with the subject but Belén doubted it would be the last she would hear about it. He grabbed his mug and walked by, planting a kiss on her head. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Daddy," Belén smiled after him.

She waited for him to leave before diving back into her computer. There was much to do after all!

~ 0 ~

Caitlin was in utter shock as she went over the various injuries Barry had managed to get in the span of a five minute fight with another metahuman.

"13 fractures," she began listing off to Barry, who laid in bed wincing at her scolding tone, while Cisco and Dr. Wells listened silently. "That's a whole new record! And not to mention that's only just in your hand. You also have a concussion, three cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen. Even with your powers, you'll need a few hours to heal."

When Dr. Wells was sure Caitlin had finished, he made the question all of them were curious to know about. "What exactly did you hit?"

"A man," Barry sighed, recalling the terrible fight. "A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like, it turned to metal."

Wells raised his eyebrows as he thought about the new metahuman. "Interesting. A man of steel."

"So you went after a meta-human alone?" Even Cisco was disappointed in Barry for his abrupt encounter with the metahuman. "Dude, why didn't you call us?"

"I didn't know what he was," Barry said meekly before adding, "Besides, I was off-duty." And he would rather not go into detail about what that meant exactly.

"You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth," Cisco pointed seriously. "Those puppies don't grow back."

"The strange thing is I feel like I knew him…" Barry admitted, still confused himself.

"What do you mean?" Wells inquired.

"He said something that was familiar, but he's gonna hurt someone if we don't stop him. So how do I fight a guy that's made of steel?"

"We will find a way. Tonight, you heal."

Barry had no energy to fight about that. He nodded his head and prepared for some sleep, or at the very least a nap.

~ 0 ~

Belén was close to finishing her article for the day and couldn't be happier about it. It was nice getting back to a normal life - especially one with a good income. CC Picture News had been happy to receive her back as an official employee and had already tasked her with several important articles. She'd even made some new co-worker friends besides Linda and Iris.

"Scuse me?" a young man stopped by her desk with a manila folder in his hands.

Belén looked away from her computer to meet the freckled-face of a dark-haired man with blue eyes. She'd seen him around but never actually talked to him. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry about it..." the man started, chuckling nervously. Belén raised an eyebrow, confused of course. The man cleared his throat awkwardly and smiled at her. "Um, I'm Noah Gilan and I'm sort of a cub-reporter..."

"Oh, you're the new one Linda took on, right?" Belén recalled the various times she'd seen him tail Linda around.

Noah nodded his head. "Yeah, and she said you might be helpful in helping me write an article."

"Me?" Belén repeated, sounding (and looking) surprised. "I don't know, I mean...I'm sure there's plenty more experienced writers. I literally just started as an official employee a couple weeks ago."

"No, that's good - I mean, for me, cos...you know...some of the older people around here are sort of..." Noah leaned forwards to whisper, "...rude."

Belén chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Anyways, Linda said that you might be interested in being partners for a while. Just until I get the hang of things around here."

"I mean...if I can help then I will," Belén shrugged, not finding a problem. "It'd be nice to co-write some articles. I've done some already with my friend, Iris?"

"West?" Noah recalled. "Yeah, I've talked to her but I don't really know her."

"Well, she's a fantastic writer too if you ever want to find another partner," Belén said. "But in the meantime...you got any ideas for some new articles?" she asked with a sly look.

~ 0 ~

Come lunch time, Belén found herself swept by a certain speedster only a couple steps from CC Pictures. She was all fond of the easy manner of getting around but not when she had literally promised her new co-worker/partner she would have lunch him. She already wasn't very happy with Barry and the others for not informing her about his encounter with the new metahuman last night. Getting a simple text in the morning was not sufficient.

"Woah, new guy we need to talk about?" Cisco immediately raised an eyebrow at the ombre-blonde, apparently having selective hearing because that was the only thing that caught his attention.

Belén rolled her eyes and hopped onto a table, letting her legs dangle. "I'm helping someone," she shot Barry a look, the latter currently taking a seat on the edge of the gurney-bed. "Next time call me, no?"

"Sorry, I was a bit distracted," Barry sighed. "I found out who our new metahuman is and I happen to know him."

"From where?" Caitlin came into the side room with a mug of coffee.

"His name is Tony, and he was my goddamn awful bully when I was eleven," Barry still appeared angry about the whole thing. "He used to bully me whenever he got the chance, and I was never able to do anything about it."

"Your childhood nemesis is now an unstoppable meta-human," Cisco gawked at the idea. "That is seriously messed up."

"I had a childhood nemesis. Lexi La Roche," Caitlin narrowed her eyes as she thought about her own bully. "She used to put gum in my hair."

"Jake Puckett," Cisco pretended to shiver. "If I didn't let him copy my homework he'd give me a swirly."

"I didn't really have a bully," Belén had her head tilted to the side, seemingly trying to think about one bully in her childhood. "Everyone just...seemed to like me…"

The other three traded looks among each other while Belén continued to think.

"Now that we've established that we're all uber-nerds," Barry began and glanced towards Belén, "except Belén who was clearly one of the popular girls-"

"Hey," Belén frowned his way. "It's not my fault no one wanted to bully me. I was nice to people, unlike you who speeds people out of their lunch plans." And as a mature gesture, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Nice," Barry remarked, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, what are we gonna do about Tony?"

Cisco clapped his hands together, smirking. "Glad you asked. We're gonna train you, man. Karate Kid style."

"Hmm, I'm interested in seeing how this plays out," Belén said to Caitlin as they followed after Cisco.

He led them into another side room where a metal figure had been set in the middle. With its makeshift head and metal bar arms, it could almost be seen as a punching bag.

"Behold! I call him Girder!" Cisco gestured to the figure as he went over to a table.

Barry raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Caitlin. She, seeing his thoughts, immediately said, "For the record, not my idea."

"What is this supposed to be?" Belén seemed oddly amused by the metal figure as she walked around it. "It looks kind of funny...oh!" she clapped her hands, "Like one of those villains on movies!"

"I don't understand how you didn't get bullied," Cisco returned with a control hanging from his neck. "You just have that…thing people want to mess with."

"What thing?" Belén stared at him a long while, not understanding his insinuation.

"Nothing," Barry reached out for her arm and pulled her away from the metal figure.

"But he just said…"

"It really doesn't matter, he's wrong," Barry left her by the doorway where Caitlin was and turned back for Cisco, making a cutting motion across his neck. The last thing they needed was to further annoy Belén for the day.

"So," Cisco received the message and focused on the 'training' that was supposed to happen, "fighting is physics. It's not about strength. It's not about size. It's about energy and power. Channel your speed the right way and you can totally take this bad boy down. Now obviously your Girder is a moving target. So... I have ice and bandages standing by."

"What a reassurance," Caitlin mumbled so that only Belén was to hear. Both were completely disapproving of the idea. Nothing good would come out of it.

While Barry wasn't so keen on the idea of fighting this metal thing, he realized his options were oh-so-limited. He started to punch the figure in a speedy manner while dodging its movements Cisco enacted via the control. He would switch sides every so often but in the end the device proved a little quicker and punched him near the shoulder. Barry fell to the floor with a loud thud...and a crack somewhere.

"I'm pretty sure I just dislocated my shoulder," Barry groaned and clutched said shoulder.

While Cisco remained back to fix the Girder, Caitlin attended to Barry in another room. Seeing it was definitely a dislocated shoulder, she prepared him for the worst. "Okay, not gonna lie. This is gonna be quick but extremely painful."

"This was a stupid idea from the start," Belén was watching them attentively from the threshold. "Even _I'm_ not that clueless!"

"Thanks, Bells," Barry winced. "I can always count on you to make me feel better."

Belén shrugged. "Great that you can!"

Barry heard his cellphone go off and struggled to answer it with one arm. "Eddie, hey."

"Allen, we found the stolen Humvee in the alley at Fremont and Lawrence. Need you down here to do your thing."

"Great. I'll see you in a sec," Barry hung up and looked at Caitlin, resigned to what would come next. "Okay…let's do this."

As he laid down on the bed, Belén rushed over to his side and grabbed his hand. "It hurts less if someone holds your hand. Trust me, I've broken and sprained bones so many times."

" _You_?" Barry asked, clearly doubting her words.

"Mhm, from when I did my aerial dancing," she said casually, but because of his coma-state Barry didn't know about that part of her life.

"What!?"

Caitlin chose that moment to snap Barry's shoulder back into place. The metahuman screamed and unintentionally squeezed Belén's hand in the process. She ended up screaming too and nearly fell to her knees in response.

~ 0 ~

"You were an aerial dancer?" it was now Barry who was standing on the side of the bed while Belén was treated for a broken hand. Feeling incredibly guilty for what he'd done, Barry had gone out (or sped out) and brought her back lunch that she had missed...because of him as well.

"I really was," Belén laughed at such doubt she received from him.

"And a good one," Cisco spoke up on her behalf. "I've seen videos."

"Very graceful," Caitlin added while she wrapped a gauze around Belén's hand. "I don't think I could balance myself with silk ropes..."

"It's not that hard if you got the practice for it," Belén shrugged.

"You don't look like the sort," Barry said to the ombre-blonde. "But what happened, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Um..." Belén's smile faltered a little bit but it came right back before she responded fully, "My Mom said that it wasn't a real career. See, my plans weren't to become a writer at all - I wanted to dance. But my parents talked it over with me - over and over - until I just agreed to leave it for journalism. I found that I actually love to write, but..." she sheepishly looked down, letting the other three figure it out.

"You wouldn't mind going back," Caitlin said it for her.

"Yeah," Belén nodded her head, looking pretty excited just at the thought of returning to her dancing. "I had a team, actually, here in the city. I haven't talked to them in a while..."

"You should go and see them some time," Cisco suggested, like many of the other times they'd gotten into that conversation. "You know, and maybe show some us some moves."

Belén laughed, face flushing pink. "Right. I'd probably fall on my ass now that I haven't practiced."

"No you wouldn't," Cisco shook his head. "I'm serious. Go back and do some dancing, girl."

"Well, now I can kind of understand why you didn't have a bully," Barry said distractedly. "You were like a triple threat."

Belén shot him a look. "Seriously?"

"Good writer, cute rambler, and an aerial dancer?"

Caitlin exchanged a look with Cisco whiled Belén blushed. She finished up with the gauze and Belén jumped right off the bed the moment her cell phone went off.

"Shoot, it's Linda," she made a face and rushed off to go answer it.

Cisco managed to contain himself a minute before he mocked Barry. "A cute rambler…" Caitlin giggled as Barry shot a glare on Cisco. "That's not a triple threat, that was just what you thought of her."

"I...I didn't mean it like that," Barry soon what he was talking about and became flustered. He panicked at the idea that he may have overstepped with Belén. But if that'd been the case she would've said something right after, no?

"Sure you didn't," Cisco made the last statement before Belén returned.

"That was Linda. I have to get back to work! Barry? Can I get a lift back please?"

"Yeah, I gotta go anyways." Barry was all too pleased to be leaving the mocking room behind. "Eddie's waiting for me anyways."

"See you guys later," Belén waved goodbye to Cisco and Caitlin. In a flash, she and Barry were gone.

~ 0 ~

When Belén returned to work, the first thing she did was stop by Noah's desk to apologize profusely for her sudden departure. Noah just chuckled as he got up from his chair to go make copies.

"I was wondering what happened to you," he said thoughtfully.

Belén rushed after him, her hand reaching to keep her purse's strap over her shoulder. "I-I am so sorry! Th-there was, th-this...there was a thing…"

Noah pressed one paper down on the printer's scanner and closed the lid. "There was a _thing_?" He repeated the question and Belén meekly smiled. Yeah, so she would definitely need to become better at lying if she was intending on becoming a full fighting metahuman.

"A-an important thing," Belén added as if it would make her excuse much more plausible. "But you should know that I am, under no circumstances, a ditcher! I don't skip out on plans I make with people! Once I agree to something I stick by it! I _honor_ what I say and I-"

Noah turned around to face the rambling woman and promptly laughed. Belén straightened, confused. "Do you normally ramble like this?"

"U-um…" Belén leaned on her hip, one hand nervously scratching her head. "I've...I've been told...I, uh, I tend to…"

Noah laughed again, quieter this time. "It's kinda cute," he turned back to the printer and took out the scanned paper.

"I've been told that too…" Belén mumbled, thinking back to Barry's words earlier. She felt her face warm up and was glad Noah still had his back to her.

"I get it, Belén, something unexpected came up," Noah stuck in another paper to be scanned. "It happens. No need to feel bad about it."

"But I _do_ feel bad," Belén moved around the scanner to face Noah. "You have to let me make it up, yeah? We could do lunch tomorrow? Big Belly Burger?"

"Yeah but I feel bad. Please, let me make it up?"

Noah turned around with a quizzical look on his face. "How about we make it dinner instead? We can stay in here and continue working."

Belén thought about it for a minute before nodding her head. "Yeah, I can do that - I meant that I _want_ to do that!" she quickly corrected herself, flushing from embarrassment. "Not that I was doing it because I _had_ to in that I'm being _forced_ to and-" Noah's laughter cut her off. "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"A bit, yeah," Noah removed the second scanner paper from the printer. "Save that for the reporting, though. You're quick!"

Belén nervously chuckled while he continued to scan more papers. _If only my rambling could help me make good excuses,_ she thought.

~ 0 ~

"Barry! Check it out!" Cisco waved Barry to come over to the desk where he had several tabs opened on the computer. Barry had taken to him a sample of gravel he'd retrieved earlier from the crime scene of Tony's. "The gravel you pulled from Tony's ride? It contains 76.8% hematite. Consistent with the mines at Keystone Ironworks."

"Which closed down ten months ago. It's the perfect hideout," Barry realized with an air of relief. He needed to bring down Tony before someone truly got hurt.

Caitlin cleared her throat and walked over to them holding her tablet towards them. "Barry, do you mind telling me about this?" She read aloud Iris' new blog post to them. " _I have info about someone you're looking for. He was here. You know where to find me.'_ Now who could she be talking to?"

Barry nervously looked away.

"Belén told us what she did, meeting Iris one time but she never said she was going back," Caitlin's motherly glare was enough to make anyone squirm. "Belén can't be doing this, Barry...she can't…"

"Alright, it wasn't Bells," Barry sighed. "I couldn't help it. I went to see Iris to try my hand at getting her to stop with her blog."

"Hm, and how'd that go?"

"Clearly not well seeing as she's sending out SOS posts now," Cisco mumbled.

"Okay! It wasn't my best idea!" Barry exclaimed. "But look, Iris clearly has something we can use and we can't pass that up."

"Clearly," Cisco nodded and received a sharp look from Caitlin.

"Who's side are you on!?"

"The side that wins obviously," Cisco rolled his eyes.

There was a buzzing noise coming from Barry's cellphone and when he looked at the ID he did admit he was a little afraid. "H-hello?" He winced.

"Why am I reading _'I have info about someone you're looking for. He was here. You know where to find me'_ from Iris' blog?" Belén asked in an edgy tone.

"See, what had happened was-"

"Barry, I'm a journalist, I can put two and two together. You clearly went to see Iris as we agreed but instead of making her stop, as we also agreed, you only made her put herself out there even more."

"I didn't mean to!"

"No of course you didn't. So, what's the plan? How are you going to fix this? I'm working late tonight and I can't be whisked away again so don't even try it.'

"It's quite simple, actually," Barry sucked in a breath, his eyes flickering from Caitlin to Cisco who remained at bay from the conversation, "I'll be visiting Iris."

~ 0 ~

As Barry planned, they all did. While Caitlin and Cisco monitored their conversation, Barry spoke to Iris who truly did have something useful (and important) to say. Tony had the audacity to visit her earlier in the day, simply to flirt but made a threatening gesture when he was close to being caught. Needless to say, Barry was furious. Tony was _his_ bully and it was his responsibility to find him and put him away in the pipeline before anyone was hurt. Yet Tony easily slipped through the radar and visited Iris in broad daylight!

What kind of hero was he!?

Well, he was not going to be the hero that let enemies like this get so close to his family.

That was his brand new (and abrupt) idea.

"Barry, talk to us. What are you doing?" Caitlin nearly demanded from the metahuman as he sped out of Jitters without saying a word to either.

"Dude, don't run angry," Cisco said, but his words went unheard. "We don't know how to defeat him yet."

Barry ignored both until he came into the Keystone building where Tony was allegedly staying. As he walked further inside he took notice of all the empty beer bottles and upturned machines. He stopped when he came across a decent sized, dry hill of what looked like...steel? Yes, that was it. It had to be.

"This is definitely the place," Barry spoke to other two still anxiously waiting for an update.

"You're trespassing, freak!" Tony suddenly appeared behind Barry and wasted no time in punching him.

He swiftly grabbed Barry and threw him into one of the nearby shelves. As Barry fell to the ground, Tony went for the shelf and pulled it down. Everything on the shelf, including things nearby it, fell over Barry.

~ 0 ~

As promised, Belén and Noah stayed in at CC Pictures to finish their work. Dinner was a pick up from the local Big Belly Burger. They had made very good progress and were nearly halfway done with the work. Plus, Belén had a chance to see who Noah was. She decided only thirty minutes after beginning to work with him that she liked Noah. He was nice, and very understanding. He was well aware of her family issues and minded how he worded his questions or even just how to act correctly when they spoke about sibling matters. He was reserved, surprisingly, but not enough to not laugh once in a while. Belén could definitely see a good friendship between them two.

Belén placed down a clear, colorful photograph on her desk of Plasticine in the middle of a jewelry heist. She then put down another photograph of Plasticine robbing a plain, old liquor store. Unbeknownst to Noah, the photographs had been retrieved by good ole Felicity Smoak when Belén was staying over in Starling City. She thought the best way to let Plasticine know she was being hunted was for Belén to publish an article on her. She just felt a little bad for not telling Noah.

"This metahuman is a weird one," she stated with arms crossed and a pensive look. "I mean, one day she's stealing priceless jewelry and then the next day..."

Noah picked up the photograph with Plasticine robbing the liquor store. "She's stealing _milk_."

"She's stealing milk," Belén hummed in agreement. "What kind of metahuman steals milk?"

"Metahuman?" Noah raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes boring onto Belén. "What is that?"

"Um..." Belén mentally slapped herself for being so careless. This wasn't STAR Labs and Noah certainly was not one of her friends who knew about metahumans. "That's just...what, um...I've heard they're calling themselves."

Noah shrugged and moved closer to see the pictures again. Before she said anything else that could out her, she grabbed her soda can and took a big drink.

"I honestly think she's just doing some grocery shopping," Noah joked casually and put down the pictures side by side.

Belén swallowed her soda and laughed. "Really?"

"Hey, just because she's evil doesn't mean she doesn't like to eat," Noah raised his hands defensively.

"Well, the fact is that she does this a lot..."

"So she does grocery shopping!"

"I need you take this seriously!" Belén whacked him on the arm and took a minute to calm herself. She wanted to truly analyze the movements of this metahuman. So far, she had nothing concrete on Plasticine because the woman only came out on rare occasions. "Plasticine comes out and makes several heists, makes a clean getaway with usually no victims."

"She's good at what she does, then," Noah tilted his head thoughtfully.

"But most metahumans usually like to...play with their food...and Plasticine doesn't seem like that," Belén remembered what she learned from Plasticine's favorite jewelry shop the night she decided to visit in her vigilante form. Plasticine never made to harm anyone, and she only went in when Alizae - an employee of the shop - was there. "She's very calculating."

"And you are very Sherlock-like," Noah picked up a french fry from a bag and dropped it into his mouth.

Belén rolled her eyes, about to retort sarcastically when her cellphone went off. She moved to turn it off but saw it was Cisco. She made a gesture to Noah she would only be a moment. He nodded and went back to his desk for other papers.

"Cisco, what's up?" Belén went for her soda again and took a sip. She nearly choked on her drink when Cisco told her what Barry had done. Well, he added the word stupid in there and a bunch of other words Belén had never heard him say. "Y-yeah, I'll come and help! Don't worry, I'll -I'll be there!"

Like a spring she jumped into action, stuffing things in her bag and clearing her desk off. When Noah saw this he hurried over to see what was wrong.

Belén didn't give him opportunity to ask. She started apologizing instead. "I'm really sorry, Noah! There's something I gotta do! A thing! Yes!" She was midway towards the door and turned back to the confused man. "Another thing came up! Believe me, important, it's a _very_ important thing! I'm…" her hand was desperately trying to find the door behind her, "...I'm really sorry, I'm not a ditcher! I'm really not! I promise!"

But as she left she felt her actions sharply contradicted her words.

~ 0 ~

"Who let him do this!? I can't believe he thought this was a good idea. I thought he was a scientist!"

"Bells, he's not te-"

Belén was shooting glaring daggers at Cisco. This was not the time to correct her. The two and Caitlin had driven up to the Keystone building hoping to find Barry. He wouldn't respond to them anymore but the sensors still indicated he was somewhere inside the building.

"Eugh, it stinks in here," Belén crinkled her nose the moment they entered the place. It reeked of beer and other smells she would rather not identify.

"Perfect hiding place, though," Cisco mumbled and went ahead.

"Barry? Barry, where are you?" Caitlin began calling out throughout the horrible mess that was the place.

Cisco saw a glimpse of Barry's elbow hidden underneath a shelf and dashed towards it. "Caitlin, Bells, over here!"

"Of course he got thrown under a shelf!" Belén exclaimed and hurried with Caitlin beside her.

"Barry?" Cisco tried pushing somethings out of the way. "Please, say something! Say something so we know you're okay."

"O-ow…" was all Barry could mutter at the moment.

"Get him out of there!" Caitlin ordered.

Belén moved over to Cisco's right side while he continued clearing a way out for Barry. With one hand, she created a vine tendril that shot out to the shelf. She raised another vine and together pushed the shelf up momentarily. "C-Cisco! It's _heavy_!" Belén groaned through her struggle to keep the vines working.

Cisco and Caitlin hurried to pull Barry out from underneath. The moment he was safely away from the shelf, Belén growled and let the shelf fall again. She, too, fell back on the ground from the force.

"Bells?" Caitlin quickly looked up from Barry.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Belén waved a hand as she got back to her feet. She hurried over to the three and took a look at Barry. He was in an awful state, so much that he couldn't properly move nor say his 'thanks'.

Thanks to his fast healing, by the time they got him back to STAR Labs the physical injuries had already faded to a point of only seeing a couple bruises here and there. Still, that didn't mean anyone's anger nor concern had lessened by then.

"What were you thinking!?" Dr. Wells was practically fuming at the metahuman lying on the bed. "What were you thinking? I told you that we would figure out a way to deal with him."

"I'll heal…" Barry was trying his best not to snap back at any of them, though it was becoming incredibly hard to do.

"That's not what he meant, Barry," Belén had her arms crossed and more or less the had the same angry face she had since they found him. "When I agreed to you visiting Iris I didn't think something stupid like this would happen! How could you do that!? What were you thinking, seriously!?"

"I-"

"No, you _weren't_ thinking!" Belén went on, and no one dared to interrupt her. "Because if you had, you would've seen how stupid this idea was!"

"It was-"

"Who in the hell makes such an abrupt, thoughtless decision!?"

"Uh, how about _you_!?" Barry found himself snapping back in the moment. "Don't you remember you were the one that made a ridiculous decision to leave with a stranger for two complete months without so much of a word to any of us!?"

That shut Belén right up.

The flash of hurt in her eyes made everyone uncomfortable. She dropped her arms to her side, and pursed her lips. Overwhelmed, she left the room with haste.

Barry sighed and turned his head to the side, seeing all the disapproving looks from the others. "Too far, I know," he mumbled.

"She wasn't wrong," Dr. Wells continued on like nothing had happened. "This was an incredibly stupid idea. He could have killed you."

Exasperated, Barry got up from the bed. "I know, alright!? I know! In the past 36 hours I've had my ass handed to me twice by the guy that tortured me as a kid. I couldn't stop him then, and I can't stop him now! Even with my powers I'm still powerless against him."

Surprisingly, Wells didn't snap back. "Not necessarily. Cisco?"

Cisco nodded and went for the computers. After pulling up the right page, he began to explain. "Any material, if struck at a high enough velocity can be compromised. We ran an analysis on the metal in Tony's footprint. Based on its density and atomic structure, if you impact it at just the right angle, at just the right speed, you could do some serious damage."

"How fast would I have to go?" Barry, intrigued, calmed only slightly.

"Factoring in the metal's tensile strength, estimated dermal thickness, atmospheric pressure, air temp, you'd have to hit him at approximately... Mach 1.1."

Caitlin's mouth fell open. "You want Barry to hit something at 800 miles an hour?

"837, actually."

"I'm glad Bells isn't here to listen to this!" Caitlin blinked, putting her hands on her hips in that motherly way that let the others know she was completely against the idea. "That's faster than the speed of sound!"

"I know. He would create a sonic boom, which, as I've said before, would be awesome," Cisco couldn't help giggle of excitement.

"I've never gone that fast," Barry felt the need to remind everyone.

" _Yet_ ," Wells corrected.

"I can't believe we're actually entertaining this idea!" Caitlin shook her head, now wishing Belén hadn't left so she could back her up on this.

Cisco went back to the computer to give it another glance. "I mean, he'd need a straight shot from Miles away yeah, 5.3 Miles, theoretically. Do it right, you'll take him down."

"Do it wrong, you'll shatter every bone in your body, Barry," Caitlin also sharply reminded him.

Barry sucked in a breath and re-evaluated his limited options. This...would not be easy.

~ 0 ~

"Maritza, hey," Belén greeted her older sister at the front door the next day with a confused expression. It was fifteen minutes till eight in the morning - Belén was still in her pajamas while her sister was already professionally dressed.

The older brunette was holding her son's hand and was looking rather urgently. "Look, I know you probably are busy but...can you please look after Axel for the day?"

Belén's eyes flickered to her nephew, the latter probably already having been told he would be staying with her judging by the toothy grin he was giving her. "Mar, I...I have work," Belén glanced back into the empty house.

" _Please_ Belén, I am desperate!" Maritza exclaimed. "I have to substitute the morning and do my class today and I can't afford the babysitter right now."

"Look, I would really like to help but I'm not exactly off to a good start at work right now. I actually have to majorly apologize again to my co-"

"Belén I will do anything you want but please just take him for the day?" Maritza put her hands together.

"Maritza…"

"Please?"

"What am I supposed to do with him all day?" Belén spoke in a hushed voice. Her nephew may be a four years old but he was incredibly smart and the last thing she wanted was for him to be upset that his 'auntie Belén' didn't want him.

"He's four," Maritza had taken the question as another form of 'yes' and so handed Axel to Belén, "Give him a coloring book and that'll be enough for hours."

"Maritza, I have work…" Belén said as a last resort but even she knew this was already a lost case.

"I know, and I am so sorry but I have to keep this job," Maritza planted a kiss on Axel's head. "Be good to your auntie Belén, okay?"

"Yes!" Axel clapped his hands and looked up to Belén. "Are we going to play games?"

Belén gave Maritza a brief look. "I don't think I have much of a choice."

"Sorry," Maritza gave her a quick hug then hurried away.

Belén backed Axel into the foyer so she could close the door. She yawned and turned around, looking down to Axel again. "Well, since I clearly won't be coming into work today, how's about we get more sleep? Nap time?"

Axel nodded his head and pretended to yawn, clapping his small hand over his mouth repeatedly. "I'm so tired..."

Belén chuckled and headed for the staircase. "You are such a good liar, Axel. But I swear to God if you draw on my face someone's not getting their chocolate milk later on."

~ 0 ~

Early morning turned into noon, and when Tony Woodward's case was turned over to the state Barry thought it suitable to find his friend whom he had offended the previous night. Now, his first idea on where to find her was her work…

Once more, he came across a stumped, and genuinely upset, Linda Parker.

"I love her, I really do," Linda was saying as she took a seat on the edge of her desk, "but she's not acting very professional like. She hasn't been back long enough to keep coming in late. Not to mention the fact she's about to miss her deadline this week because she keeps ditching a co-worker?"

Throughout this, Barry was guiltily listening to the woman go on and on...knowing that each time Belén had mysteriously disappeared had been because of him. "Listen, Linda, Bells is just going through some stuff," Barry began cautiously.

"I get it," Linda raised her hands, "Girl hasn't had it easy this year. But work is work. She can't keep doing this."

"She won't," Barry assured, promising himself that he would start being more mindful of the actions he took that would inevitably lead Belén into more trouble. "I'm...I'm gonna go talk to her…"

"Please do," Linda sighed and got off her desk. "I can't keep protecting her from the major bosses around here. Larkin has an attitude..."

Barry nodded. As soon as he could, he said goodbye to Linda and went to Belén's house. Knocking several times, he waited impatiently, and rather nervously. She probably had half a mind to slam the door on his face when she saw him standing there. Well, he wasn't the fastest man alive for nothing. He would have to keep the door open just enough to make his apology and hope for the best. Yes, that what he needed to do.

But, he was heavily surprised when Belén opened up and did nothing of the sort.

"Barry? What are you doing here?" she instead asked calmly, like their spat hadn't existed.

"You didn't come into work today and...I thought that was my fault…" Barry slowly explained, still wondering what she was planning on doing because so far her face had maintined completely at ease. Was this some sort of girl trick? Iris did it often with him when they were kids...and it was not fun!

"Don't flatter yourself, Barry," Belén chuckled a bit before gasping, "Oh my God I didn't mean to sound mean! S-sorry! I...I didn't...didn't really...sorry," it was her turn to be nervous. "Was that mean?"

"Bells, I...I thought you were mad at _me_ , not the other way around."

"Oh, and you thought…?" Belén smiled and shook her head. "I was mad at you for a bit, then I got home and started thinking...and then I realized 'what the hell am I mad about? You were right'. Leaving Central City the way I did was compeltely rushed and stupid, no matter how logical I thought it was afterwards."

"I still had no right throwing that in your face," Barry sighed. "You were right about me - I shouldn't have gone out after Tony like that. It was stupid."

"But you did it for Iris, someone you consider your sister. If someone had done the same to my sister or brother, you bet your ass I would've gone after them no matter what."

"Still, I'm really sorry for what I said. It shouldn't have been said, period."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't stop my mouth and you were already pretty injured and frustrated so really this is still my fault and I should be apologizing so you shouldn't-"

"Bells breathe," Barry had to interrupt when he saw parts of her face going purple from lack of oxygen intake. Belén blushed and took in her needed air.

"Sorry," she apologized meekly.

There was a strange noise coming from the inside and while Barry didn't directly ask, he leaned slightly forwards. "Am I interrupting?"

"I'm literally just netflixing right now. Cisco's got me with the Walking Dead," Belén chuckled. "Well…" she motioned to be followed inside.

As Barry shut the door and followed her out of the foyer, he heard several distinct noises of a...gurgle? Was that a gurgle? Oh, there was a giggle too.

"Axel stop gurgling your milk and swallow it," Belén scolded when she walked into the living room.

"I like the sound," Axel called from the couch. He was very focused on a tablet he held but noticing his aunt had not come alone, he lowered the tablet for a moment. "Auntie Belén, Mommy says I can't talk to strangers..."

"Right," Belén pushed her hair behind her ears and motioned Barry to follow her again. "Barry, this is my nephew, Axel. He's the reason I didn't show up to work today."

"I told Mommy I didn't need a babysitter," Axel said in such a serious state that both Belén and Barry laughed.

"Axel, be nice and greet Barry," Belén motioned the boy to get up from the couch.

The small boy sighed but never got up. Instead, he let go of the tablet just to wave a hand at Barry then reach for the cup of milk he had on the coffee table. "Auntie Belén I'm watching Toy Story. Sh!" he then grabbed the small Woody doll beside him.

Belén made a face then turned to Barry. "As you can see, I'm very busy today."

Barry chuckled. "Right. Um, and he's...he's Maritza's son, right?" he vaguely recalled meeting Maritza and the small boy at Jitters.

"Yeah, my only nephew in the city," Belén shrugged. "And he's definitely worth the shouts Larkin will give me later."

"Big boss?"

"Big boss."

"Yeah, Belén, about your job...I'm sorry I've been causing problems there too-"

"Barry, please don't even worry about that," Belén waved a hand. "Just promise me next time you won't go into a fight where they can kill you without a proper plan first."

"I can do that," Barry nodded his head.

"Thank you, on behalf of all of us at STAR Labs," Belén rolled her eyes. "You're free to go without any guilt."

"U-uh, actually, I, um...you know," Barry decided to just start over again, "I've yet to catch up on zombies too…"

Belén followed his gesture to the television and blinked rapidly. "Oh...do you want to stay and watch with me?" she glanced back at him. "Of course, if you don't mind Axel. He's very shy when it comes to new people. Although he didn't have that problem with Iris - he frikin loves her."

Axel looked up with a big smile on his face. "Iris makes good chocolate milk."

"I taught her how to do that..." Barry said, leaning over the back of the couch.

Axel shifted so that he faced Barry. "Did you really?"

"Oh yeah, Iris and I grew up together so we taught each other a lot of things. She's like my sister, you know."

"Are you annoying?" the boy suddenly asked.

" _Axel_!" Belén scolded immediately while Barry laughed.

Axel simply looked between the two adults without realizing what he did. "My Daddy used to say that his big brother was annoying. Mommy said that uncle Rayan was annoying too. That's why I don't want to be a brother - I don't want to be annoying either." And without waiting to be scolded, Axel re-positioned himself on the couch and grabbed the tablet still playing his Toy Story movie.

"Barry, I'm sorry about that," Belén cleared her throat, obviously feeling bad for that bit.

"He's funny, I like him," Barry finished his laughter and moved around the couch. "And to answer the question, Iris was the annoying one, not me!"

"Now _I'm_ telling," Belén playfully warned him as she went to sit down as well.

~ 0 ~

"This is definitely gross, I don't want to keep going," Belén cringed over and over as she saw blood spilling from a character's limb. She was glad that Axel had fallen asleep earlier. Despite being four years old, Axel seemed to like scary movies and whatnot. Maritza always said he got it from his father.

"Then why you'd watch it in the first place?" asked Barry who seemed to be studying the television rather than being entertained.

"For Cisco!"

"And what did we learn today?"

Belén groaned and threw her head back against the couch. "I can't watch..."

"You can definitely tell it's fake, though. The blood's not even the right color! Heck, barely anything on the show seems real!"

"It's a _show_ -" Belén tried to remind but Barry was too excited to stop there.

"Look-" Barry shifted on his seat, eyes scanning the current scene on the television screen, "-it's a known fact that, technically, these zombies would have decomposed within like...a year, maybe a year and a half. Zombies in hot and humid places would have had their skin practically melting in _weeks_! They would literally be skeletons and maybe even just heads on the grounds. Plus, if zombies can turn you with a bite or a scratch then wouldn't that mean that nearly everyone would have been turned when they got blood on them? I'm talking about, you know, when someone stabs a zombie over and over and the blood splatters on their faces. One drop of blood in your system and you're..." he trailed off when he saw Belén staring at him with the widest of smiles. He was now aware of the mega rambling he'd done and suddenly felt his face warm up with embarrassment.

"Do you always get so analytical when you're watching TV shows?" Belén tried her best not to laugh.

"I-I tend...to do that...a lot...sorry," Barry shook his head. "It's kind of why Iris doesn't like watching television with me."

"I can see that. I mean, we watch television we mostly just... _watch_ ," Belén chuckled. "But when you watch television, you go on some other level...like a...like a 'Barry-level' that only _you_ can reach."

Barry tilted his head at her, seeming completely offended. "What? I have a level now?"

"I think you always had a level," Belén nodded. "I should talk to Iris about it, maybe she already gave it a name."

"I have a level?"

"Yes."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Belén!"

"Barry!"

There passed a long minute in which nothing was said and only stares were exchanged. Barry was just not amused and Belén was trying her best to suppress her smile that was already leaving noticeable traces on her lips.

"So, I have a level?" Barry finally began again, and when Belén nodded he quickly asked, "Why do I have a level?"

"Because," Belén let loose just a blip of her real laughter, "you look at the details no one else would. Take me for example," she gestured to herself. "When I watch a show, I don't go looking to see if the blood is the right color. I just go 'oh look, they're bleeding' and then move on."

"But how can you do that!?" Barry exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Because I'm just watching TV, Barry!" Belén said matter-of-factly, and giggled. Barry exhaled in resignation and shook his head. "Maybe it's just the fact you're a forensic," she added after feeling a little guilty, "You're trained to analyze things. It's just your custom."

"It's an annoying custom, or so I've been told," Barry muttered.

"No it's not, it's...interesting," Belén shrugged, "And kind of funny, not gonna lie. You get so into it - and excited too! You stay like that, alright? It's just part of you being an adorable nerd."

The last sentence had Barry in a mixture of flush and sadness. Belén saw that quick and sobered from her playfulness.

"I said something wrong didn't I? I...I didn't mean to-"

"It's not your fault," Barry said grimly, "Those words just sounded a lot like something Iris would say."

"Probably where I got them, to be honest," Belén mumbled and then spoke louder for him. "Why don't you talk to her? We can continue watching this some other day. It's obvious you miss her and this whole petty fight is just hurting both of you."

"I can't Bells…"

"Yes, you can," Belén said sharply. "Last time I checked, your sibling wasn't kidnapped or anything. She's probably at home right now...which is where you need to be." With that, she got up from the couch. "I have to bring Axel upstairs. When I come back, I would hope to see a little note from you-" she made a gesture of a squared note in the air that did, eventually, make Barry lighten up with a smile, "-saying you listened to my advice and went to see Iris."

She collected Axel from the other couch and headed for the stairs where. It would've made her feel good to know that Barry was planning on following her advice if it hadn't been for the phone call that he answered just as he had stood up from the couch to leave.

"Barry?" Belén had made a scowling face at him when she returned, though in his defense he had his back to her which didn't let him see it. "What are you still doing here? I know I was being a little sarcastic but I did mean for you to go to Iris and-"

"He took her," Barry turned around, angry yet completely terrified. "Tony took her right out of the house!"

"Wh-what?" Belén froze in her tracks. "Well...well...we gotta...we gotta do something! We, um, Star Labs, yeah! They can help us right?"

He nodded and made way for the doors. "I called Caitlin and Cisco, told them about it and they're working on it. This time he has to go down, I have to take him down."

"Not with that super punch you're not," Belén was coming right behind him. "Caitlin said you would break every bone in your body!"

"If I don't have another way then I'll have to take it!"

"I need to be with you so you don't have to do that awful option!"

"Bells!" They were now at the doorway, and Barry had turned around to remind her of her situation. "You have Axel upstairs, remember?"

Belén glanced back at the staircase with a thoughtful stare. "Well, he's only four. It's not like Maritza's gonna believe him if he says anything about you. Plus, he loves Cisco, so he'll be fine."

"Bells…"

"If you don't speed us there in the next minute I'll take back the 'adorable nerd' compliment I gave you."

"That was supposed to be a compliment?"

"Barry!"

"Fine!"

~ 0 ~

It only took another hour or so to get a clue of Iris' whereabouts. It appeared Tony had taken her back to their old school and somehow, mysteriously, there had been a report of a fire alarm going off in that building. The group assumed it had been a sign from Iris' part trying to signal her location. Smart girl because it worked.

"Okay, but how do you intend on taking him on?" Belén asked, for what the others counted as the tenth time.

"Fighting, clearly," Barry didn't want to be rude to her but at the moment his patience was low because Iris was off somewhere with an incredibly dangerous metahuman.

"That's not a plan!"

"She's not wrong," then came Belén's backup, Caitlin. The bioengineer sat at the desk concerningly preparing the computer to monitor Barry's future movements with the suit. "The idea of this sonic...punch, is completely a 'what if'."

"Well then hopefully we won't have to use it," Barry said his last sentence before speeding out of the building.

Belén looked at the remaining others with a straight face. "He's gonna have to use it, won't he?"

"The chances are very high," even Dr. Wells had to admit.

"Then someone should be there to make sure he has a better chance," Belén walked towards the desk.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Cisco exclaimed as Belén placed down her nephew on the chair between Cisco and Caitlin.

"Look after him, please?"

"I don't need a babysitter!" Axel grumbled but was not acknowledged.

"Bells, this isn't a good idea," Cisco earnestly said. "You haven't seen this guy, alright? You haven't even tested your own powers completely-"

"I've tested them enough," Belén made sure to look at everyone whilst saying that. "I've trained with the Arrow, with the Canary, and I think I've learned enough to go out there. You're going to have to excuse me but you've only seen a glimpse of what I've learned to do." And Belén thought that was an understatement. There was a side even _she_ hadn't really seen and wasn't very interested to.

"He's dangerous," Caitlin reminded meekly, though knew this was a lost case.

"I know, and strong. Look, I'm not going to go in to punch him. You're right, at one point, Barry will have to do that stupid sonic thing and when he does, I'd like to make sure this Tony is already weakened."

"What do you mean by that?" Caitlin furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, Tony might be metal but he doesn't stop having human lungs," Belén smirked.

"I don't have your suit ready," Cisco said as a last resort to get her to stay back, but he shoould've known better. Belén was a journalist - they persisted until the end.

"I've still got my original outfit," she winked and ran off.

"Where is auntie Belén going?" Axel was left asking but none of the adults could come up with a good answer for a four year old.

~ 0 ~

Iris was completely terrified as she watched from her spot on the ground as the Streak (tentative name, she noted) fought against her deranged kidnapper. She was frozen on her spot, thinking if she moved she would perhaps get in the way. But then just like that, in the middle of the fight, the Streak sped out.

Smugly, Tony glanced back at Iris. "There goes your hero."

Iris was well overconfused, but she said nothing. Then, out of nowhere, several pink Azaleas dropped and formed a neat circle around Tony.

"What the…" Tony looked down at the flowers and had a mini-laugh, "...what's this?"

"Over here," came the order of a modulated voice. Iris perked up when she recognized the voice.

He looked ahead and saw a woman in a green leather jacket that faded into pink, and matching pants. "Buddy of the coward I assume? Well, your little flowers aren't gonna do much for you sweetheart."

Belén keenly listened to the earpiece for a status on her time before speaking again. "Do you know what Azaleas can mean sometimes? Death."

"What? And you're gonna kill me with them?" Tony was close to laughing again.

Belén felt something in the pit of her stomach while the man laughed. She flexed her hands, not needing to even look at them to know they were sporting green blotches. She fought against it, pushing it away and focusing on the little time she had left until Barry would return. "I'm not a murderer, I'm a partner." She extended a hand towards Tony and turned her palm over. A bright pink Azalea formed at the center of her hand and released what looked to be like pollen into the air. "Azaleas, while beautiful, are quite poisonous." Tony began to cough as he felt something prick at his throat. "It's not enough to kill you, don't worry. I've learned the correct amount to weaken someone." The flowers around Tony were now opening up and releasing the same pollen into the air around him. Belén calmly walked around Tony who was coughing violently and stumbling. She stopped by Iris and helped her up. "We need to move!"

"What-" Iris barely had time to say when Belén yanked her to the side.

It had been a well calculated moment because a mere two seconds later Barry reappeared, faster than ever, and in a great leap his hand collided with Tony's face...creating the perfect sonic punch.

Barry fell back against the lockers and Tony staggered back, completely disoriented. Belén mumbled a 'stay here' to Iris and hurried up to where Tony had landed to deliver a final punch that would knock Tony out for real. She then made the Azalea pollen from the air disappear before Iris got a whiff of it.

"Nice one," Barry remarked after a moment, still feeling rather weak. "But what are you doing here?"

"Helping your ass, what else?" Belén couldn't help chuckle then glanced back to Iris who was slowly coming forwards, looking shaken up. "You'll be fine now, we promise."

Iris nodded, her fear slowly fading and replacing with awe as she looked at the two heros. As bad as it may have sounded to anyone else, this was the closest she'd ever gotten to either of them.

~ 0 ~

When Tony awoke he found himself in the small containment pod in the pipeline that would become his new home. "Hey! What is this? Where the hell am I?"

"Somewhere you'll never hurt anyone ever again."

Tony got up and pounded on the glass door that turned out not to be as fragile as he thought after putting up with several of his steel punches. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Barry stepped out from the shadowy archway and allowed Tony to see who he was in reality. "You know who I am."

"Allen?" Tony went in a momentary stupor.

"The thing that happened to you, Tony, it happened to me too, but it didn't just give us abilities. It made us more of who we are. You got strong. I got fast. Fast enough to beat you. You used your gift to hurt people. Not anymore."

"Allen. Allen. Allen, don't walk away from me, Allen!"

Barry stepped back and let Tony be promptly shut up in the pipeline. Once the door was fully shut, he whirled around and did some sort of victory dance that everyone else in the room decided to ignore for the best.

"Dude, that had to feel great," Cisco laughed alongside him.

"You have no idea," Barry nodded his head.

"Almost as good as proving us wrong about the supersonic punch?" Caitlin asked with crossed arms.

"Actually, that part hurt. Like, a lot," Barry looked at his fist that was already healed...lucky him.

"I hate that you heal faster than me," Belén glumly looked at her gauzed up hand.

"Nobody said you had to punch him afterwards," Barry couldn't help laugh at her face.

"Excuse me for coming to help you!"

Barry sobered and gave her a light smile. "Well thanks."

"Okay," Cisco clapped his hands together as they headed out, "I need to know which childhood bully we are gonna take down next? Mine or Caitlin's?"

"Seriously, Cisco?" Belén gave him a sharp look.

"What? Oh, right, I forgot little miss adorable didn't have any bullies," Cisco made a faceand earned a whack on the arm.

"I told you people just liked me! It's not my fault!"

"Sure," and she was surprised that it came out of all three of her friends' mouths.

"You're all just…" Belén scrunched her nose as she thought of something to say, "...big nerds! You're just nerds and you're jealous because I never had someone pick on me."

She left them very amused as she went ahead to go collect her nephew. It was getting late and she knew it was only time before Maritza would arrive at the house.

"Dr. Wells I am so sorry," she quickly apologized when she walked into the cortex room, "It took longer than expected to put Tony away."

"Don't worry, I assumed Barry had to have a couple minutes to gloat to him," Wells shot the said man a look as the others came in.

"I did not gloat," Barry said proudly.

"No, he just danced," Belén cleared her throat and suppressed a laugh. She moved to the chair where Axel had been left at, the boy babbling to himself while he scribbled over a worn out journal. "What are you doing there, Axel?"

"Drawing," he said distractedly, not even glancing at her.

"He's very interested in the technology around," Wells gestured to the computers and screens on the wall.

"Oh, he gets that from his uncle Rayan. He used to let Axel use one of those drawing programs on a tablet." At that moment, her phone went off and she didn't need to answer to know who was the caller - she had seen the time. "Maritza's at home and I need to get there fast…" she eyed the speedy metahuman, "...up for one last trip?"

"Always," Barry nodded and moved forwards.

"Uh, Bells, I know this is probably ridiculous to ask but don't you think Axel might mention something about all this-" Cisco gestured to the room as well as Barry and herself, "-to Maritza?"

"Don't worry Cisco," Belén had picked up her nephew into her arms, "Maritza would never believe it."

"I'm not telling," Axel hopped off chair and snagged his paper with his newest drawing. "I can keep secrets too." He quickly looked at Barry with big eyes. "I won't tell, I promise!"

"We believe you," Barry reassured him but silently concluded that Belén was right. Even if Axel accidentally let it slip that he was the Streak, Maritza would never buy it.

"Hey Axel," Cisco came by the boy wearing a suspicious smirk Belén was already not liking, "Sonic?"

"Boom!" Axel threw his hands into the air and giggled, much to the dismay of everyone else in the room.

"I cannot believe you taught my nephew this," Belén playfully scolded Cisco for that but the man was busy high-fiving with Axel to care. "Barry, get us out of here!"

Barry thought it would be a good idea since she looked close to hurting Cisco. As they approached Belén's house, they could see Maritza's car already in the driveway.

"I'm gonna need a good excuse," Belén said as they walked down the sidewalk.

"She won't buy the one where you say you were 'out with friends'?" Barry made a face at her.

She turned to him with an amused smile. "Maritza is very delicate when it comes to her son - especially since she lost her husband. But don't worry, your name nor anyone at STAR Labs will not come up."

"Why don't I go in with you and we make up some excuse together?"

"That's very sweet of you but I would rather you went to go find Iris. You have spent all day with me and frankly it makes me feel guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Iris is your best friend, your sister, your family, I don't think it's right that you ignore her and do it by spending your entire day with _me_. Iris is also my friend, a really close friend whom I completely love. I feel like I'm betraying her by not helping this icky fight between you both."

"Okay," Barry gave in rather easily after hearing her logic. Truth be told he didn't feel well with himself either. More than anything he wanted to fix things with Iris and get back to normal. Ignoring her probably wasn't helping.

"Thank you for today," Belén said softly. "I can't wait to see everything back to normal tomorrow."

"As much as it can with all these metahumans?"

"Yes," Belén laughed, "As much as it can be with all these metahumans."

"What's a 'metahuman'?" Axel looked up at them both, curiously.

"We're going to talk before we go back to your Mom, okay...?" Belén said back, nervously smiling at Barry while motioning him to get going.

"Good luck," Barry told her before leaving.

"Good luck to you," Belén felt the need to say back. When he was gone, Belén took Axel by the hand and slowly walked for the house so that she could come up with a good story on what to tell Maritza.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I'm actually cracking up at the 'skirt' fight from the beginning to don't mind me and my sillyness xD. Anyways, as you can see we're finally seeing Belén using some of her powers which, admittedly, didn't involve a lot of action since she went with a little bit more of a sinister side with her poison. I loved that part too not gonna lie xD

As always, thank you so much for reading! And feel free to leave down a comment or a thought (especially now since the show is back on and we're seeing our faves again!)


	10. Lights Out

"This is actually really _cool_ ," Belén laughed in delight as she opened her arms and looked down at her new super-suit. Cisco had finally finished with her suit and was letting her try it out.

There was a dark pink, corset-like design around her middle but faded into green as it reached high up her neck. The short sleeves, were a combination of pink and green swirled together. Her pants, which were connected to the middle were faded from pink to green as well. Green boots finished it off at the bottom.

Cisco was standing in front of Belén, making sure there were no flaws with the suit. He smacked her hand to get it away from the comm. he built into it. Though she went 'ow!' with an incredibly offended expression, he continued without acknowledging it. "Told you I would get it in the end."

" _Uh_ , no," Belén gave him a pointed look. "You were still stuck on the idea of a skirt up until last week when I threatened to throw away your candy stash. Caitlin can back me up on that." She moved her head around Cisco to see what Caitlin had to say. The brunette was working on the computers and merely gave a thumb's up in the air.

"I can't believe you threatened me like that," Cisco muttered under his breath. "All I wanted to do was make you pretty-"

"Don't make me laugh, Cisco," Belén smacked him on the chest, making the guy stumble back a bit. "Even when we went on that date you accidentally complimented my legs."

Caitlin's eyes shot up from the computer with that comment. "You what now?"

"In my defense I was nervous and it just came out!" Cisco raised his hands in defense.

"Hm, and throughout all that you _still_ didn't get a second date?" Caitlin used sarcasm which only irritated Cisco more. "Hard to believe why."

Belén covered her mouth to laugh. "Sorry Cisco, I love yah but there's no second date."

"Who's not getting a second date?" Barry walked in, taking in the teasing faces of Belén and Caitlin and Cisco's upset one.

"Cisco," Belén pointed but left it at that. She thought it might be weird for Barry to know that two of his friends nearly dated while he was in a coma. Caitlin had sure reacted that way, and even Iris when they learned. It was better to leave that in the past.

"Hey, you got your suit," Barry noticed and came over.

"Yup," Belén gave a sway of her figure and smiled. "Cisco just finished it, what do you think?"

"I'm accepting all sorts of compliments," Cisco raised a finger.

Belén playfully pushed him aside. "Ah, _I'm_ accepting compliments. I _am_ the one taking it out and showing it off."

Cisco mimicked her and dodged her playful punch. "Barry? How does it look? Tell me I'm a genius!"

"Cisco, I'm going to poison you," Belén crossed her arms. "And I've been working on that, alright?"

"Okay," Caitlin got up from her seat the desk. She carried a tablet with her and joined Barry's side. "So I've hooked up the suit to the system so we can monitor you whenever you're out in the field. I've also made sure to put in a specific feature to monitor your power levels."

"Why do you need to do that?" Belén raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Caitlin bit her lip, suddenly looking nervous as her eyes flickered to the side. "I didn't want to mention it before because it really might not be nothing-"

"If it was nothing you wouldn't be like that," Barry pointed out.

Caitlin sighed. "I'm really just being cautious," she insisted. "I've noticed some spikes in your vitals sometimes when you're training."

"Spikes...?" Belén tried to follow as best as she could.

"As in, sometimes, your levels concerning the chemicals in your DNA that are part Azalea sometimes start going up and down for no given reason," Caitlin explained in the best way that wouldn't sound troubling, because really she didn't know what that meant yet. "I think it has to do with your emotions. When your training you're obviously feeling lots of things from frustration, exhilaration, tiredness..."

At this point Belén hoped she was hiding her own nervousness good enough to pass off as confusion instead. She had finally understood and had even made the hypothesis of what Caitlin was talking about. Her _emotions._ Emotions is what usually triggered... _that_ side of her powers. It especially became hard to push them away when she trained. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of this before. Of course someone monitoring her would come to notice how everything in her body would randomly shift because of _that_ side.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Caitlin re-stated and smiled hoping to make Belén feel better about it. If only she knew.

"You don't have a mask," Barry pointed out after he stared at Belén for a good minute or so. He'd come to the conclusion she looked pretty and that made his face feel warm.

"Well, it does, technically," Cisco spoke before Belén could. "It's just a combination of Bells' powers and the suit's ability to stay stable."

For show, Belén created her mask of vines around her eyes with small Azaleas to decorate. "Last time I used it, it disappeared because I was knocked out-"

"You were shot," Cisco reminded.

"Thank you for that reminder, Cisco," Belén shook her head and continued. "Cisco's made it so that even if I'm knocked out, the suit's gonna make my mask stay for me. I'm all set to go!"

"And you even have a name already," Caitlin reminded, something Cisco immediately huffed at. "Oh, Cisco, you're just mad you didn't come up with it. Iris did."

And it had been a surprise to find Iris writing about the mysterious metahumans on her blog again. She focused on the new one, the one she named 'the Azalea' who had helped save her from Tony. It was definitely something to process for Belén because Iris had basically introduced her to Central City.

"You're damn right I'm mad!" Cisco crossed his arms.

Belén laughed and passed a hand through her hair. "Well, before Cisco gets mad, can we get to the part where you tell me what I'm supposed to do with the suit now?"

"Practice of course," Caitlin pointed.

"And Barry's going to help us," added Cisco.

"Wait a minute," Belén marched up to him, both she and Barry looking reluctant with the idea, "you want me to practice on Barry? Like...like me actually trying to...to _hit_ him?"

"You want me to hit her?" Barry asked right afterwards. That wasn't sounded very good...

"They're not exactly orders from us," Caitlin came to Cisco's aid.

"What's that supposed to mean?" went both metahumans.

"It means-" Dr. Wells made an appearance in time, "-that I proposed the idea."

"Why would you want us to fight each other?" Belén asked in a gentle way that made it sound like she were being asked to do the most horrible thing in the world. "I like Barry, and he likes me."

"The idea is to test each other's skills," Wells explained, putting his hands together, "More specifically _yours_. We've tested Barry enough to know where he stands but there are still many things we've yet to learn about _you_."

"Dr. Wells, I'm not...I'm not really comfortable with...with this idea," Belén ran a hand through her hair.

"Think of it as a way to get Barry back for anything annoying he's done," Caitlin offered an alternative that earned herself a glare from Barry. It had only been a suggestion after all.

Belén covered her laughter behind a hand.

~ 0 ~

"Belén, hit back!"

"I can't!"

"Belén just do it!"

"But you're my friend!"

Barry groaned in frustration as he once again sped off to catch her in another part of the track area. Belén was surprisingly fast when she disbanded into her vines, but the moment she reformed he was at her side trying to 'fight her'...if she only tried to fight back.

"Belén!" he shouted after he had swung a fist and she merely ducked to avoid it. He wasn't very happy with the idea of fighting against her but he knew it was logical to test out their skills, but it didn't make him feel any good when all she did was avoid being hit.

"I'm sorry!" she cried.

"Don't apologize and swing!"

"But Barry it's not-"

"DO IT!"

"But-"

"BELÉN JUST DO IT!"

There was a crack in the air and Barry stumbled back highly disoriented from the harsh blow of the punch he finally received. Belén gasped, still with her balled fist beside her.

"Oh my God, Barry, I am so sorry," she tried reaching for him but the earpiece on her suddenly rang with Cisco's voice.

"If you try to make him feel better I will spoil the Walking Dead for you."

"Oh c'mon!"

Barry chuckled as he rubbed the side of his jaw. "You're good at this," he remarked.

"Arrow," was all Belén needed to say to make a good explanation. "He was very clear about me not relying on my powers all the time so he taught me how to properly fight."

"Well, do it again."

"But I - eek!" Belén squeaked and disbanded into vines when she saw Barry attempting to punch her then. Without thinking much on it, she banded together and kicked him on the back. "...that was kinda fun…" she admitted quietly.

Barry whirled around, giving her a sharp look. "Glad to see you're over it then."

Belén's response came in the form of her deadly poison trick. The pink poison was blown from her puckered lips and quickly had the air around them covered . Belén was very careful to make the poison very light so as to not cause any real damage - she herself wasn't quite used to it. It was probably her most difficult ability up to date because she needed to learn to control the amount and toxicity she emitted.

Barry sped out of the poisoned area and thought for a minute on how to fight his opponent. He may not have the wind power but he did have speed that could mirror it in some way. He dashed around the poison and repeatedly ran in the circle. Belén gasped when she saw her fatal attack being turned into nothing. Barry laughed at her shock and sped right for her. He tackled her to the ground with his hands clasping round her wrists.

"Gotcha!" he triumphantly declared.

The victory moment lasted but a second or so. The two became highly aware of their unusual closeness and suddenly they couldn't focus on anything but that. Underneath Belén's mask, her face was a bright pink and she was desperately trying to suppress her embarrassed smile. She never realized how _strong_ he was til then with his hands firmly grasping her wrists, no chance of escape.

"Guys, what's going on?" Caitlin's voice came through both of their comms. It was enough to pull both metahumans back to the present.

"N-nothing," Barry was the one to answer, his face now matching the color of his suit as he pulled himself off Belén. Had he really gotten distracted...with her _face_? _Well, I was technically looking at her eyes,_ he thought. They were such a dark shade of brown and he only just noted it now? But if he was admitting things to himself, there was also her nose...and her lips…

 _Woah_ , Barry froze for a moment. Those were some new thoughts.

"C'mon, Barry!" Belén grabbed him by the arm and headed for the direction of the others.

The moment they returned to the others, they were checked for any injuries and questioned to no end over their 'match'.

"Belén, I feel we should look more into this poison ability," Dr. Wells was telling the young metahuman, she nodding her head. "I don't think you're using it to your full potential."

"Well, I guess not," Belén admitted, glancing at Barry, "I didn't want to actually poison Barry."

"Thanks," the man in red playfully rolled his eyes.

"But I'm also afraid that I'll end up poisoning myself," Belén continued. "It's a trick I don't like using a lot, to be honest, because it's hard to control."

"You shouldn't push away your powers, Belén," Wells gave her a pointed look. "We can help you harness it and use it in a way that it won't hurt you."

Belén made sure to seem like she appreciated the thought and would definitely be taking it up. Inside she was scolding herself because it was exactly the opposite of what she was doing. _That_ side of her powers was definitely one she wanted to keep away. It was ugly; it was a side she didn't want to merge with.

Barry's cellphone going off brought her out of her thoughts, especially when he sped to the end of the table to pick it up.

"You really couldn't have _walked_ to answer that?" she looked at the rest who were shaking their heads, disapproving of his action too.

"Please don't let his showing off and laziness rub off on you," Caitlin put an arm on the Belén's arm, and for a split second Belén didn't know if it had been a joke or not.

"There was a homicide, I have to go," Barry announced as soon as he ended the call.

"We weren't exactly done…" Cisco looked over to Dr. Wells who agreed with a nod of his head.

"I have to go," Barry reiterated, apologetically smiling at Belén. "Think we can postpone this match?"

"Sure," Belén waved him off. On that note, the speedy metahuman took off. "He was a bit too out of it anyways," she commented after she was sure he wouldn't be coming back.

"He's known for not taking things seriously sometimes," Dr. Wells sighed, though he didn't look very surprised of the observation Belén made.

"I suppose having speed can get to your head, though," Belén didn't want to get Barry in trouble and tried coming up with valid reasons instead. "If I could move as fast as he could I would be all over the city getting things done."

"But you sorta can," Caitlin made the mistake of saying, she didn't know what Belén was trying to do. "We measured that yesterday, remember? You're not as fast as Barry but when you disband into vines you can go at a pretty decent speed."

"Thank you, Caitlin," Belén said back rather sourly.

"Belén," Dr. Wells spoke again, this time in his authoritative tone, "I had this conversation with Barry earlier in the day and I don't believe I hadn't with you yet. Barry and us-" he gestured to himself, Caitlin and Cisco, "-have an agreement. We help him with his heroics and in exchange he allows us - or rather he's _supposed_ \- to let us research and develop his abilities."

"That sounds like something Barry would do," Belén smiled proudly.

"Well, yes, if he ever decides to buckle down and take it seriously," Wells pointed out. "The same deal we have with him, I would like to extend with you."

"I would love to help in anyway I can," Belén gestured to herself, "But...what exactly can I do to help people? I'm plant girl…"

"Hey, you're the Azalea now," Cisco pointed at her seriously.

"You can do plenty to help," Wells assured her. "You have a split DNA now, and believe it or not plants do have desirable traits for humans."

"If you think I can help, I'm signed up," Belén raised a hand to 'volunteer'. "And I will take it as serious as I can."

That last sentence relieved Wells a little. He thanked the sharp differences between her and Barry, at least with her there wouldn't be so much nagging.

"Hey, you know what would be really cool?" Cisco suddenly asked, looking far too excited. "If you got Nina to come in and practice with you guys."

Belén's eyebrows raised, but in the end the idea didn't seem so good. "Sorry, Cisco, but Nina doesn't like using her powers. The only reason she left with me to Star City was to learn how to control them too, but…" she shook her head, "...she doesn't have plans to further develop them."

"A waste, really," Wells remarked. Belén gave him an apologetic smile. "Three metahumans would be grand."

"What _are_ her powers again?" Caitlin dared to ask, her curiosity not as discreet as she thought it was.

"I think that's something she should tell, not me," Belén mimed zipping her mouth, for there was nothing coming out of them anymore concerning her friend's metahuman abilities.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you think we should delete that last paragraph?" Noah squinted his eyes at the computer screen, even though he was practically sitting in front of it.

Belén had been originally sitting in that spot - considering it was her desk - but little by little Noah had overtaken it, without realizing it. She couldn't take it anymore and just laughed. "Why don't you just wear glasses already?"

"Huh?" Noah glanced at her with a flushed look. "You know I wear glasses?"

"You're struggling so hard it's easy to tell," Belén shrugged.

"I look like an idiot with them, trust me."

"Mm, not as much as you do right now...trust _me_."

Noah playfully rolled his eyes and got up from the chair to go get his glasses. In the meantime, Belén took another look at their article. Hearing her phone buzzing against the white marble desk, she picked it up but didn't bother checking the ID.

"Hello?" she asked whilst moving onto the second paragraph of the article.

"Bells!" Cisco's loud call made her flinch, but not lose focus on her article. She was quite used to it by now, getting calls midway through her workdays.

"What is it now, Cisco? And please tell me it's not just to inform me of Barry's new record of whatever stupid dare you made him do."

"Metahuman attack for sure," Cisco said earnestly, adding even, "And Barry was pretty sure it was the metahuman responsible for the homicide earlier."

Belén turned her chair to the side, away from her desk, and spoke hushedly. "Cisco, I can't leave like this again. Barry knows it."

"I know, which is why he went on his own."

"I'm sorry, but I'm just getting back on the bosses' good side," Belén discreetly looked around, hoping no one would pay attention to her.

They were used to the loud Belén Palayta and since she'd returned from Star City they had taken notice of the drastic change in her persona - she didn't want to give them another reason to question her.

"Besides, if Barry thought for a second it was more than he could handle he would also call me for help," Belén said, although she wasn't very sure if _she_ believed that. Barry was very selective with the outings she joined him in as 'vigilantes'. She noticed she had so far handled low level stuff - petty theft, road trouble, low fires, etc. He, on the other hand, took on the metahumans...the real bad ones.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Cisco gave in with a light sigh.

"Keep me posted though," Belén said, missing Noah returning to her. "Even if Barry hates it - because I know he does it on purpose - I need to know exactly what happens with him out there." She clicked and ended the call. She gasped after turning on her chair and seeing Noah already back in his own chair - he wore thick rimmed black glasses now. "How long have you been there?"

"Enough to know you're one of those clingy girlfriends," Noah replied with a wide, cheeky smile that did have Belén flustering.

"G-girlfriend? Wh-what...what a-are you talking about?" Belén tried focusing back on the computer screen with the article she was working on.

"That Barry guy - it's not the first time I hear you talking about him on the phone, and not to mention something about being 'protected' and whatnot."

Belén arched an eyebrow, sideways glancing at him. "What are you? Eavesdropping on my conversations now? You know, that's not very nice."

"Neither was you ditching me twice," Noah countered smoothly, not at all looking angry for that. "Was it because of him too?"

"W-we really should get back to this article - Linda needs it by tonight," Belén cleared her throat and tried, for the life of her, to reread and finally proofread that last sentence of the second paragraph. "Nice glasses by the way," she added a moment after.

Noah desisted and got back to work with her. But, and Belén knew it would only cause further questions, when it came to lunch and he asked her if they could pick up something together, Cisco called again and this time with worse news.

Needless to say, when Belén anxiously apologized for her decline to the lunch invitation, fuel was added to Noah's teasing.

~ 0 ~

Barry was on the treadmill by the time Belén reached STAR Labs, and at the sight of him going...far too slow on it...she became appalled.

"Oh, what did they do to you?" she put a hand to her head, despairingly looking back at the others observing the same thing she was.

"He runs slow even for a normal person," Cisco just had to comment from behind the glass window. Belén elbowed him on the ribs for his comment on behalf of Barry.

"You can't just lose your powers, okay?" Caitlin was in the same appalled state as Belén, her arms flailing over her head. "Your DNA was transformed by the particle accelerator blast. There's no way to untransform DNA."

Barry stopped running and turned to them, looking worse for wear. "Yeah, tell that to the uber driver who charged me 65 bucks to take me here. I had to tell her I was coming from a cosplay party."

"What exactly was this metahuman anyways?" Belén inquired, now more than ever interested in this new foe. They all walked into the training room to talk better.

"We thought at first this metahuman electrocuted people," Wells sighed as he looked to Barry, "but he siphons it instead...thereby removing your power, Barry."

"Alright," Barry processed that and sat down on the edge of the treadmill, "but do we think this is temporary or…?"

"We have to run tests," Wells said, not that it made Barry feel any better.

"Yeah," he mumbled, pushing himself up, "I've got to warn Joe."

"Barry, we will find a way to restore your speed. I promise you that," Wells firmly made the swear but Barry was too down (not to mention terrified inside) to have a gleam of hope.

"What happened out there?" Belén whispered once Barry had left the room. "How come no one told me this metahuman just so happened to have electrical powers?" her eyes landed on Cisco then. "That was something I needed to know."

"How was I supposed to know he would suck all of Barry's power?" Cisco raised his hands in surrender. Did she look mad?

"This is the kind of stuff I needed to know about," Belén looked over at Caitlin, knowing she had to have been nearby at that time.

"And next time you will," Caitlin tried to make things better in her own way.

"There shouldn't have to be a 'next time' for this to be a thing," Belén shook her head, now turning to the last person, Dr. Wells. "I will do anything for any research you may want, but I need to be included in all this metahuman stuff. I'm not smart like anyone in this building, but I need to be informed to the fullest extent of everything metahuman-wise."

Wells nodded, his hands folding together. "That's fair, completely fair."

"Thank you," Belén lightly smiled and headed out. "I should go catch up with Barry. I don't think he's realized he doesn't have a car nor speed - at the moment - and Uber is just completely overpriced."

She caught up with Barry on the street, and after a couple of words she offered to take him back to the station.

"C'mon, you really want to waste money on the _bus_? Or another Uber? I won't bite, I promise," Belén laughed at her own joke. "C'mon?"

"Aren't you supposed to be getting back to work?" Barry curiously eyed her, now more cautious not to intrude on her personal life.

"I'm on lunch," Belén shrugged. "C'mon!"

Barry saw no other way than hers and finally gave in. Getting there, they found both Joe and Iris there. Needing some time to explain to Joe the problem, Belén mentioned to Iris she hadn't ate yet and the two went for a quick bite. When they returned, they barely got the last of the conversation between Barry and Joe...to which Iris still manage to hear and question about.

"Who's dangerous?" she curiously looked between the two men.

"No one, just some thief," Barry quickly made up, seeing Belén's apologetic face behind Iris.

"Well, criminals better watch out," Iris smirked. "Cops in Central City are the best there are, and if you can't protect this city, dad, I know The Flash and the Azalea will."

"What if _he_ can't?" Barry's voice turned nervous, as was expected by those in the loop. "What if he's gone?"

Iris, though confused, smiled. "Then I guess the Azalea can take over for the day. But why would he be gone?"

"Yeah, or maybe he's just done, or maybe it's like whatever he could do before, he can't do anymore and…"

"Huh?" Iris was no longer following in the least.

Joe cleared his throat and the look he gave Belén practically begged her to get Barry out of the place.

"Barry, can we...can you help me out with an article of mine, please?" she asked, but the sharp look in her eyes told Barry there was no article and that this was an intervention.

"Y-yeah, let's go," he shot up from his chair and followed her out.

"I thought _I_ was supposed to be the motor-mouth around here," Belén was shaking her head as they walked down the staircase together.

"It just...it just comes out," Barry sighed.

"Is exactly what I say all the time," Belén gestured. She considered the small smile across his face as a win and reached for the elevator button.

The moment she did, the elevator doors opened on up to reveal two officers with an older man (an apparent convict judging by handcuffs and the clothes). Belén shifted under the intense gaze of the man as the officers dragged him out of the elevator. Something about his cold beedy eyes didn't sit well with her.

Barry noticed and gently pulled her into the elevator. As they did, though, the older man called to them, or rather Barry. "That's a quality time piece, young man," he nodded to Barry's wrist watch.

"Oh, uh thanks…"

"They took mine, all of them."

"I guess you shouldn't have done whatever it is you did," Barry awkwardly said and pressed the closing-doors button.

"And you choose to work with these creepy guys?" Belén asked seconds after the elevator started down.

"First of all, I work with the evidence and occasional dead-" Barry began but Belén interjected.

"Because _that_ sounds better," she playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"It's a bit more interesting than that, I promise."

"I honestly doubt it."

"You'd be surprised. I mean, if you start off with the basics you'd find it's not even that complicated and who knows, you might…"

Barry had trailed off seeing Belén just smiling politely at him. He'd learned that smile really meant she wasn't following because…

"You're not interested, are you?" he asked meekly, flushed he'd entered that rambling stage Iris always talks about.

"Tell you what," she pointed a finger at him while her other hand grabbed his wrist with his watch on, "when the little hand points at seven and the big hand on twelve-" she let go of his wrist "-I will be oh-so-interested. That's when I get off work."

"You're just trying to distract me with funny," Barry looked to the side, and for a minute Belén's smile faded until he finished with, "And it's kind of working - thanks."

"Yay!" Belén laughed. "So I'll see you and the others then, because I assume you probably won't be leaving STAR labs till you have conclusive results."

"You would assume right."

Belén then sobered, and she reached to touch his arm. "I'm sure everything will work out fine. You've got the best people on the job for it: Dr. Wells, Caitlin and Cisco."

Barry wished so much that she was right, because if it turned out he really did lose his speed forever he honestly didn't know how he would ever get over it.

~ 0 ~

"So you think we can finally hand over the article?" Noah leaned back on his chair and looked at Belén.

"Yeah," she briefly looked at the screen before checking her phone again, hoping (for the tenth time or so) that there would be news over Barry's situation.

"I hope it'll be published though," Noah went on and prepared the article to print.

"Me too…" she checked again.

"I mean, it would be a completely foul thing to do to us, don't you think?"

"Definitely," checking again.

Noah gave her a look, not that she noticed as she was still staring at her phone screen. Then, he pulled off his glasses and surprised her by placing them on her.

"What are…?" she lifted them up.

"Oh, I just thought since you kept staring at your phone you might be the one who needs glasses," he sat back down and folded his hands, the sarcastic smile not failing to show.

"I'm sorry," she pulled the glasses off and put them on the desk beside her. "I have a friend, and...he's going through a hard time."

"I hope it works out, then," Noah earnestly wished. "But, um, if I were you, I would learn to separate work and personal life. I don't mind it, honestly, but others," he motioned to the room full of workers, "might not be as lenient."

"I know," Belén nodded, finally putting her phone away. "I'm just...so full of problems since I came back. It never seems to stop."

"Maybe you change crowds, then," Noah said, and it surprised Belén greatly. "I mean...if these people you have a relation to are nothing but problems, or causing problems, you shouldn't spend time with them."

"It's not their fault," Belén ran a hand through her hair. "None of it is. There's just...so many things that we can do, and only us, and…" she took a deep breath, "...for some reason, bad things just seem to happen to us. And my problems began before - my brother disappeared, and now he's probably dead, and somehow I'm the only one from my family that can't accept it. My God, why's things so difficult?" She blinked rapidly like she'd made a realization. "And why am I dumping this all on you?"

Noah chuckled. "Don't worry about me. I don't really have friends yet and you trusting me like this is actually really nice."

Belén smiled his way. "You don't have family around?" She suddenly realized that while she knew of Noah she didn't really know _about_ Noah. He was just her co-worker.

"I had my Mom but she died months ago."

"I'm so sorry," Belén said quietly. She could still see traces of pain on his face and so she thought to move on the subject. "What about friends? Oh, do you have a girlfriend?"

"I've got a few but...I'm not really an sociable person. I like to focus on my work."

Belén straightened up in her chair. "Do you know what, one of these days I'm gonna have you meet my friends. I think you'd like them."

"Just tell me where and when," Noah shrugged, smiling now.

There was a strange flickering of lights in the room, making the workers momentarily stop their current tasks. While everyone looked about confused, Belén narrowed her eyes. The stupid electric metahuman was probably on the move again.

"Noah, as a friend," she began slowly, her hand reaching for her purse underneath the desk.

Noah smiled, as if he knew already where it was heading.

"...do you think you could cover for me?"

"Sure thing," he nodded. "We were done anyways. I'll get the article in, don't worry."

"Oh, you're the best," Belén sighed in relief at the easy getaway she would have. She gave him a quick hug then hurried off.

~ 0 ~

While Belén had good intentions, it apparently didn't settle well with some of those in STAR Labs, and by that it meant Cisco.

"What the hell were you thinking?"Cisco was actually tapping his foot at her. They were out in the corridor, along with Caitlin.

"I was thinking that since the lights were going out in my building I'd check it out," Belén threw her hands in the air, mildly irritated such extremities were being taken. It was really only Cisco that had a problem with her going off on her own to try and find this metahuman. Dr. Wells hadn't even showed up yet to give an opinion, and Barry was still sulking at his own problems. Caitlin just seemed to be disappointed in her actions, but not mad like Cisco.

"That was incredibly stupid!"

"No, Cisco, it was just a failed plan," Belén corrected him. "How many times has Barry done the same thing? And how many of those times did you back him up?"

"That's not relevant here," Cisco shook his head.

"Yes, it kinda is."

"Look," Caitlin cut in, looking between the two, "I think Cisco is just really worried because of what happened with Barry."

"Yeah, but my powers have nothing to do with that metahuman's. I'm plant girl, there's nothing for him to suck off," Belén shrugged. "And in any case, I didn't find him. He must be sucking out energy somewhere else."

"Can you please just not do this again?" Cisco softly asked her. "At least tell us so we can monitor and help you."

"That I can do," Belén reached out to hug him. "See, there was no point in yelling at me."

Cisco pulled away from her, narrowing his eyes at her. "Oh don't think I've let this go."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Belén chuckled and looked around, her voice suddenly dropping low. "Where is he?"

Cisco and Caitlin traded in looks. Belén sighed. She whipped out her phone to check the time. It was thirty minutes to seven.

"Screw it, I'm staying," she declared to her friends. "And I'm gonna go see how he's doing."

"Try to ramble a lot," Cisco quickly suggested, "He thinks it's cute so...try it!"

Belén rolled her eyes, though she still blushed a bright pink. "We're never letting that go, are we?" Judging by Cisco's wide smile, she took that as a clear 'no'. She raised her hands and walked past them without another word.

When Belén walked into the cortex room, she wasn't very surprised to find Barry staring at his suit hung up on the mannequin. "Hey…" she softly made her appearance known.

"You shouldn't have gone out like that on your own," he started with, his back to her still.

"Please don't scold me too, Cisco took care of that. Besides, I was just trying to help."

"I don't want you looking out for this guy on your own. What he did to me, he might not be able to do to you, but it doesn't mean he won't kill you. He's scared, and fear makes people do stupid things."

"I get it, I had this lecture before with Oliver, trust me," Belén walked up beside him and crossed her arms. "Now, can we please let it go? I didn't leave work early to talk about _me_. How are you doing?"

Barry sighed, his eyes glued to the red suit in front of him. "Do you think I'll ever wear it again, Bells?"

"I really wish so," she tried to be optimistic for him.

"I didn't have my speed for very long, but now that it's gone, it feels like part of me is gone too."

"But that's just the thing, Barry, whether you have your speed or not, you're still _you_." Belén fiddled with her thumbs then, feeling her warm up as she spoke her next words. "When I first met you, you were only Barry and I thought he was pretty great."

"But I'm not," Barry turned to her, teary-eyed, though there was a hint of a smile from her words. "I'm not the best version of me, Bells. I love being The Flash. I love everything about it: The feeling of running hundreds of miles per hour, wind and power just rushing past my face, being able to help people. I'm not sure I can live without it."

Trying to view this from his perspective, Belén gave a small nod. It must be horrible not knowing whether or not you would get to have your powers - that truly do become a part of your very essence - back. She supposed while she thought of him as grand even without his powers, her words were of no real comfort to what he truly desired.

"I wish there was something I could do," she said earnestly, never having felt so useless than that moment.

Barry smiled at her, without a doubt knowing if there was something she could do she wouldn't hesitate to do it. She had only proven it earlier when she went in search of the electric metahuman on her own.

"Guys," Cisco strode into the room with Caitlin, both looking a little happier than the situation allowed.

"We found the metahuman that attacked you," Caitlin announced. "Farooq Gibran."

"Who?" Barry asked, he and Belén walking over to see for themselves.

Cisco showed them the very man Barry had dealt with earlier on the computers. "The powers vampire who jacked your speed. I hacked into the surveillance footage from the Petersburg substation. Once I got his face, it was easy to find a match. He climbed an electrical tower the night of the accelerator explosion."

"Well, there's no surprise where his powers came from," Belén remarked. "Not to mention his strength."

At that moment, an alarm went off. Caitlin was the first to search through the computers for the problem and gasped at what she found. "This cannot be happening," she put a hand to her head. The others crowded around her and saw none other than Farooq himself through a surveillance video. He was apparently right outside the building. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. This is not happening."

Farooq had seen the cameras and was now directly speaking to them. "Dr. Harrison Wells, I need to see you! Come on, I know you're inside. Open the door. I just want to talk, Dr. Wells. Wells! Let me in!"

"We're clearly not letting him in, right?" Belén concerningly looked at the others. "Where's Dr. Wells?"

"I-I don't know...probably in another room," Cisco was gawking at the screen.

Farooq didn't seem to like waiting. The camera allowed the group to see him march up to the power box nearby and rip out its wires. The lights in the room flickered radically as Farooq siphoned the electricity from the power box. Unfortunately, he siphoned much more than just STAR Labs' electricity - there was an entire city blackout.

~ 0 ~

With no light, Farooq was able to enter the building, but to make his way to the cortex would take a lot more time. In the meantime, the others tried reading more on him whilst trying to contact others who should be on the lookout for chaos…

"It's a total blackout," Belén said to Caitlin after hanging up on a call between her father and herself. "Dad says there's been some sort of accident at Mercury labs because of it."

"If Farooq can do this imagine what he's going to do to us when he finds us," Cisco's eyes went wide just at the thought.

"Let's try not to think about that," Dr. Wells said, but he didn't look very optimistic about things either.

"Guys," Barry made way for them, looking far more terrified than before, "Joe and Iris are in trouble. I need my powers back now."

"What's wrong?" Belén dreaded to ask.

"Long story short, there's a hostage situation at the precinct. I need my powers back now."

"I have a theory," Wells raised a finger, making everyone look at him, "It's untested," he forewarned.

"I'm willing to roll the dice."

"Okay, you've lost your speed, yes, but nothing has changed inside you on a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed. They just need a jumpstart."

"Okay, how do we do that? How do we jumpstart me?"

"We need to replicate the initial jolt to your system."

Cisco had made the mental calculation quick and concerningly pointed out, "But that would mean a peak current of at least 20,000 kilo-amps."

"Are you insane?" Caitlin gaped. "That's more electricity than they give to people in the electric chair."

And while Belén didn't understand many of the words just said, she understood Caitlin's perfectly. "We can't do that!"

"Caitlin, Belén," Wells eyed both women, "with Farooq in the building, we're all looking at a death sentence here."

"The spare generator's offline. If we reboot it, we could get a charge that big," Cisco reluctantly shared the idea.

"We need something that can transmit the load from the generator to Barry's body without shorting out," Wells began looking around for such a thing.

"The treadmill," Cisco pointed to the side room. "My baby could take the charge."

"Again," Belén meekly waved a hand, "this sounds way too dangerous. We can't do this…"

"Well, it's all really up to Mr. Allen," Wells gestured to Barry - however he was already heading out the room. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna talk to him!" Barry determinedly answered.

"No. No!"

With an irritated sigh, Barry turned back. "Okay, you didn't see him at the substation. He needed to feed. I got super speed out of the particle accelerator blast, but his best friends died. He woke up with a disease."

"That's no excuse for murdering someone," Belén pursed her lips together. "Wasn't this the same guy responsible for that charred corpse you worked on earlier?"

"Yes, but-"

"And I really hate to remind you but you don't exactly have the power to so valiantly face him at the moment."

Everyone else agreed with her and gave Barry the simultaneous nod.

"He may just need help like I did!" Barry exclaimed, then tried calming his frustration down. "I don't need my powers to offer him that. I have to try."

There were no more words of disagreement as he headed out. They devised a quick little plan as they went to find the metahuman in case things went south - because things _would_ be going south. Farooq was coming down a lower corridor looking for them, his hands still bright as electricity cackled through them. As Barry came out the rest hid behind on either side of a threshold behind.

The moment Farooq saw him, he moved to act.

"Hey!" Barry raised his hands into a non-threatening gesture. "Woah, woah, easy...I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You can't hurt me," Farooq still had his hands extended towards him, but hadn't moved an inch. "Where is Harrison Wells?"

"Look, I know what happened to you. The night of the accelerator explosion, it changed you. It changed me too."

If it hadn't been for the bright electricity, Barry would've seen the realization strike Farooq's face. "You were the one in the red suit. I fed from you. I have to keep feeding."

"All right, I know this has to be terrifying. That's why I want to help you, okay?"

"The night of the explosion, when the light hit me, it stopped my heart. Jake and Darya... they were your friends. I woke up, and they were beside me, dead. They tried to give me CPR. They were touching me, and I electrocuted them."

"This is not your fault."

"I know. Wells did this to me…"

"Farooq, you need to listen to me-"

Farooq had finished talking and finally used his powers. He blasted Barry backwards, through the threshold. He took only two steps towards them when Cisco activated a door and sealed their part of the corridor off.

"Not sure how long that will hold," he felt the need to admit to the others.

Belén had gone to help Barry sit up, but was probably more scared of the other metahuman at the moment. "Do you see how stupid this was?" she angrily told him. "You could've been killed!"

"We need to get him to the treadmill," Dr. Well looked over to Caitlin and Cisco urgently. "Bring the generator online as fast as you can."

"Bells, let's go," Barry too had gotten over his noble act. After being fried nearly twice, perhaps the best thing to do was just put the metahuman away in the pipeline along with the rest of the rogues.

"But I still don't think-" Belén was yanked forwards. Apparently, it no longer mattered if she was for this radical choice or not.

"I don't even know how to work anything!" she grumbled as a last resort when they re-entered the cortex room.

"Qutie simple actually, you only need to pull down a lever," Barry tried his best to make things just a little bit less grave, but Belén could see he was still limping and quietly grunting from the blast of electricity he received.

"You're not healing fast anymore," she remarked, and gently led him to the treadmill.

"Guess now you're the one that heals fast…"

"Somehow, that doesn't make me happy," she sighed. "J-just hold on...I-I can maybe find something…"

She moved for one of the tables but Barry grabbed her wrist and yanked her back. "You need to leave this place," his sudden command left Belén motionless for a minute, "And you need to go to the precinct and help Joe and Iris."

"Two wrong things with that," Belén shook her head. "One, I don't think I can sneak fast enough past Farooq. I don't know how fast I can go before I get shot down. Secondly, I _will not_ leave you alone. Third - I know there wasn't a third but I just thought about this one right now - I'm properly scared of this guy," she swallowed hard, "I've helped Oliver with some of his guys but they're different, you know? They shoot you, you die. But metahumans, they can do all sorts of stuff before you _actually_ die. I'd rather not find-"

Throughout the entire time, Barry had been trying to interject but Belén, being who she was, had rambled on and on and on, leaving him no choice but to go old school and clap a hand over her mouth.

"If you're not gonna go, _someone_ has to. We can't waste time," he said urgently. "What if-" Behind his hand, he heard her gasp...right around the same time electricity crackled behind them. They exchanged a look of equal fear.

Farooq was making slow and careful rounds in the cortex, his eyes keen for any movements. He eventually came by the treadmill room, where there was no more sight of the other two metahumans.

"Did you know the human body generates electricity?" Farooq called out, knowing that even if he couldn't see them they could still hear him. "The average person gives off 342 watts, and I can smell it coming from you."

In the cramped closet room, Belén and Barry had taken refuge. Through the small glass near the door handle they could barely get a glimpse of the man still searching for them. Belén gulped the closer he got, never feeling so ashamed of herself for being so scared. Barry too was in a similar state, the sense of powerlessness finally taking a toll on him. If he had his speed at the moment he would have easily been able to move Belén somewhere safe and stick Farooq in the pipeline. In all those thoughts, his hand snaked around Belén's, and when she realized it she gave him a warm smile. Farooq had made a turn around the treadmill when a strange noise coming from the corridor caught his attention. Forgetting the two hidden inside, he went out to take down whatever was practically calling to him. A full minute passed by before Barry decided they could come out from hiding.

"Turn on the treadmill," he ordered Belén, not giving her a chance to decline as he rushed for the treadmill.

"But you're still hurt…" she still tried to say something despite him already motioning her to hurry up.

"We don't have time!"

"Then _make_ time because this is literally life or death!"

"BELÉN!" Barry's sudden loud call made her flinch on spot. A bit guilty because of it, he spoke quieter the next time, but nonetheless earnestly. "We don't have a choice."

"I have fought, Barry, but I have never killed," Belén's eyes were wide in alarm, and utmost fear. "And I would never want to start with you."

"If you don't do this then we can all die," Barry reminded her.

Her hand wouldn't budge though, she remained frozen, considering. _I am so weak_ , she thought to herself.

"Belén," Barry called again, this time giving her a look she couldn't avoid, "just do it. For me?"

Belén glanced back at the controls, making a face. "Eugh, Barry Allen, for such a genius you have very ridiculous ideas!" She shut her eyes and pulled down the lever.

Barry had his hands clamped around the metal bars of the treadmill, which acted as the receiver of the electric jolt. With his screams, Belén had to re-open her eyes and see the trouble she (believed to have) caused. It appeared to be too much and the last jolt sent Barry with a blast against the wall.

"My God, are you okay?" Belén ran towards him, dropping to her knees beside him. "Did you feel anything?" She helped him sit upright, and when he held one of his hands up she was ecstatic to see it buzzing in a speedy manner.

But then it stopped, just like that. It was back to normal.

"It didn't work," Barry exasperatedly said, but Belén detected a much more sorrowful emotion deep in his tone.

"Barry...I'm so sorry…" Belén really couldn't come up with anything better than that. She felt awful for him.

Barry didn't seem to want to focus on it much more. He pulled himself up and helped her up next. Grabbing her arms tightly, he spoke to her urgently. "Bells, you _need_ to leave this place."

Although it wasn't the first time he ordered her, Belén's eyes still widened in confusion. "Wh-what?"

"You need to at least attempt to leave!" Barry continued on, dragging her to the cortex room. "Joe and Iris need the Flash or the Azalea. There's no need to drag you down with me-"

"No one is dragging me down," Belén yanked her arm from his grip, forcing him to stop and turn to her. "If there was a remote chance for me to escape, maybe under these circumstances I would attempt to do it...but I just can't. I'm not fast enough to escape from being electrified!" She felt frustrated and then she felt that creepy sensation on her hands. With one quick glance down she saw the familiar green blotches on her arm, indicating _that_ side of her powers wanted to come out.

"Every second you and I are here is another second Joe or Iris could be hurt," Barry ran his hands through his hair, utterly frustrated with himself.

Belén quickly put her hands behind her back and quietly took quick breaths in and out to get rid of the green blotches. _This is the last thing I need right now_ , she thought.

"Wait!" Barry dropped his hands and suddenly pointed at Belén. For a moment, she thought he might have noticed. "What about Nina? You and I may be stuck here but Nina Clarke is more than free to help!" Barry exclaimed, inwardly cursing himself for not having thought of this earlier.

"What are you talking about, Barry?"

"Nina, your friend-" Barry gestured to her, "-is another metahuman, and a good one! Give her a call," he grabbed her hand (giving Belén a small panic attack but she saw the green was gone from her skin) and yanked her for the desk. He started looking for any cellphone as he continued explaining. "Tell her what's going on here and about the precinct! Tell her she needs to go to Joe and Iris and save them."

"Barry, you don't understand," Belén stopped his hands from ransacking the desk, "Nina doesn't use her powers. She's only used them so that she could learn how to keep them under control-"

"But the point is she _has_ powers and she can use them to help, right?"

"Well-"

"Belén, could she help?"

Belén was no good under his intense stare. She gave a small nod of her head.

"Good," Barry managed to find Caitlin's phone and held it out for Belén. "Please call her."

~ 0 ~

"No, Nina, you've got to listen to me _please_ ," Belén pleaded for about the tenth time (Barry counted). "This is much more than just your preferences, okay?"

Barry staggered first into the machinery room where Cisco and Caitlin were. Belén would've helped if she'd noticed it, but thankfully there were others to do that for now.

"You're winded," Caitlin greeted him with and plopped him down on a chair. "That's not good. I need to take your blood. But first tell me what happened-"

"Nina, please!"

And then tell us what _she's_ doing," Caitlin jerked a thumb to the ombre-blonde who remained by the threshold.

"Many bad things happened," Barry swallowed hard. "First of all, the jolt, yeah, it didn't work."

"What?" Cisco scowled.

"And then, we found Tony Woodward out in the corridors and was killed by Farooq."

"But-"

"And throughout this whole time, Belén has been trying to get Nina to go and help Joe and Iris at the precinct."

"Anything else?" Cisco raised his eyebrows, exchanging looks with Caitlin.

"If we get lucky, the answer might be no!"

Belén was going crazy in her task, one hand running through her hair. "Nina, for God's sake, are you listening to yourself?"

"Belén, the question is, are _you_ hearing yourself?" Nina snapped back in a contrasting polite tone. "You are asking me to go and play hero against some lunatic convict!"

"Nina this is more than just 'playing hero' alright? And if you don't get off your lazy ass and something happens at the precinct I know you will _never_ forgive yourself."

"...I don't know how to fight, Belén."

"Yes, you do," Belén sighed frustratingly. "This is what Ol - I mean, the Arrow, taught us remember? You came to Starling City with me to gain control of your powers, right? To learn how to keep them from other people seeing them?"

"Of course."

"And you learned to do all that, but now it's time to learn another thing: when people are in trouble, _you_ have to help them. This isn't about playing hero, this is about people who can't defend themselves needing our help. I respect your opinions on metahumans and powers, but this is a moment where it should be put aside for the bigger picture. People need your help, Nina, and you have a duty tonight. Please, answer it."

Belén hung up and turned to the others, who were staring at her rather impressively. "What?" she coughed, feeling her face warm up.

"You make fantastic speeches, Bells," Cisco walked over and proudly patted her cheeks, making her laugh.

"Not the time, Cisco," she swatted his hands away and put down the cellphone. "I just really hope she listens to me. It can't all be bad tonight right?"

"Suppose…"

"Did you tell them about Tony and the pipeline?" she asked Barry, concerned. "If he got out then the others could too, no?"

"That's really not possible," Cisco shook his head. "The pipeline was designed to withstand a power outage. Someone had to have let him go."

Wells appeared in the room, clearly stating, "I did. I released him."

Barry blinked at him, surprised etched across his face much like the others. "Why?"

"To divert our intruder's attention while we worked to restore your speed."

Barry gaped. "You used him as a distraction?"

Wells remained, surprisingly to the others, at ease with the decision he'd made. "An unnecessary one, as it turns out. It seems the plan has failed."

"I... I have his blood on me," Barry gestured to his sweater which did indeed have remnants of Tony's blood. "How could you do that?"

"You're showing a lot of sentiment for a man who tormented you as a child."

"Tony might have been a bully then and now, but he didn't deserve to die."

"Does Caitlin, Belén, Cisco, me or you?" Wells countered, gesturing to each of the named. "I had a choice to make, him or us. I chose us without a second thought."

Barry was growing more and more frustrated, and angry, with him. "Well, all your talk about miracle cures and scientific breakthroughs, but you don't care about people at all."

"Well, maybe you care too much, Barry. I know being a hero is important to you, and I respect your ideals. I just don't have the luxury of sharing them."

"I forgot. Your game's chess. We're all just pawns to you, right?" Barry made a gesture of everyone else in the room. "So what's your move, doctor? Which one of us gets sacrificed next?"

Wells listened as electricity cackled from a distance. "We have to get out of the facility."

"We just left him on D level," Belén said quietly, "Can even make to the main entrance anymore?"

"There _is_ the garage with the mobile lab van," Cisco reminded the others.

Wells stared directly at Barry then. "It's my move, Mr. Allen, and I say we make a run for it."

Caitlin, who'd been looking over Barry's blood pressure results, suddenly gasped and hurried to Barry. "Oh, my God. Barry, look. Your cells, they're rapidly regenerating."

Barry looked at the screen and scowled. "But I still don't have my speed."

"It must be mental, not physical," Caitlin theorized.

Cisco teasingly laughed. "Oh, you have the yips."

"The whats?" Barry gave him a look.

"You know. When a second baseman all of a sudden can't throw to first or a golfer tries to putt and they get all embarrassed and upset, and then that makes the yips worse, and it's a hot mess, and then they feel like even more of a failure-"

Belén whacked Cisco's arm, shooting him a disapproving look. "I think that was more than unhelpful." She sighed and turned to Barry. "You are caving into your worst fears by allowing this one time of powerlessness to swallow you up. Don't let it."

There was barely a moment for Barry to process her words of encouragement when another loud boom rocked them. There was just no time to waste. As Wells said, they made a run for it. As soon as they got into the garage, Cisco pointed Barry towards the only white van in the area. Barry got there first and clambered into the van, finding the keys just as Cisco said.

But the lights flickered and the van failed to turn on.

"He's here," Dr. Wells said with a shuddering breath after numerous failed attempts to move his electrical chair as well.

And, on cue, Farooq made himself known by stepping into the place. Both his hands were glowing white with electricity ready to fire at whoever crossed his way. Barry quickly rushed out from the van and went to his friends, but of course there were no more ideas in his head.

"You need to stop all this," Belén suddenly spoke. She felt her heart beating wildly but she knew that at the moment, she was the only one with a slim chance of helping. "If it's true your powers are...are hurting you...then let these people help you," she gestured to her friends. "They're scientists, they know how."

"Preaching about 'help'?" Farooq almost sneered at her. "Look where we are right now?" he raised his hands.

"Hey, that's on _you_!" Belén snapped. She started walking forwards, ignoring the pleads of her friends to stay put. "How you use your powers is on _you_ , not the rest of us."

"Stop talking!" Farooq shot his electricity at her but she jumped to the side and rolled on the ground.

"Fine!" she snapped and threw a tendril of vine forwards. It grasped his ankle and, when pulled, smacked him to the ground.

Just as she pushed herself up to her knees, Farooq attacked again and this time was able to blast her further to the side. Belén shook her head as she tried to overcome the strange, and painful, leftover shocks. She could hear the others calling her to stop, and she was sure one of them was, no doubt, thinking about coming over to help her.

"Belén, just stop!" Barry shouted frantically, but the ombre-blonde did no such thing.

One vine failed after the other, and to be frank her energy wasn't getting any better. Being repeatedly hit with electricity ended up taking a toll on people. On the last hit, Belén felt herself get lost for a moment. But in that moment, she started attacking quicker, fiercer, like she was no longer _there_. Tendrils of vines acted like lassos snapping around Farooq, forcing the man to throw himself to the sides in order to avoid being hit. Belén wouldn't know it, and neither would her friends because they were behind, but stronger, patches of green began forming on her face and hands. She sucked in a deep breath then released the biggest exhale her lungs could muster, and in the process her pink poison began filling the air. This time, however, she didn't make calculations of how much toxicity it would take to cause minimal damages. What came out, came out.

"She's going to poison us all!" Cisco cried out.

But right then, Farooq threw one last shock of electricity that threw Belén against the van, unknowingly knocking her out of _that_ moment.

Belén took a sharp, deep breath with widened eyes. Any traces of green was out of her skin but there was a throbbing all over her body. "I can't..." she struggled to say, "...it...it hurts." She saw the mist of poison she had created and used her last energy to bring it back into her own system, an ability she hadn't quite learned to use yet but...there was a first time for everything.

With no more opponents left, Farooq turned to the next closest victims. He walked towards them, intending on finishing them off so that he could finally get to his real target.

"Oh, my God!" Caitlin gasped in pure terror. "Oh, my God. No, please!"

"Hey! You're here for me!" Wells shouted from another part of the room, his chair having been stuck from earlier.

Farooq froze and turned in his direction. "Finally you show your face."

"Well, I wasn't exactly eager to be killed…"

"Neither were my friends."

"I know. I hurt a lot of people that night."

"People?" Farooq scoffed. "You don't even know their names."

Wells arched an eyebrow, as if accepting the challenge. "Jake Davenport. Darya Kim. Ralph Dibny, Al Rothstein, Grant Emerson, Will Everett, Bea Da Costa, Ronnie Raymond. I know the names of every person who died that night. I know they all mattered, and the fact that the world is now deprived of their potential is something that I have to live with every day, but these people…" he gestured to the others in the room, who were keenly watching anxiously, "These people have done nothing wrong. You want to punish me? Fine, let's do that, but let these people live."

"You died that night too," Farooq declared, and his hands glowed with the largest quantity of electricity he'd produced over the course of the night. "You just didn't know it till today."

Barry couldn't take anymore people getting hurt, much less getting killed. He felt the familiar energy build up inside. "No!" Without thinking much on it, he bolted from his spot and sped towards Dr. Wells, getting him out of the way just in time.

~ 0 ~

Knowing his helicopter had been delivered, William Tockman grabbed himself a hostage for extra insurance - unfortunately poor Iris - and headed for the upper levels of the precinct.

"Quickly. Time and tide wait for no man," Tockman yanked Iris down the hallway.

A blast of wind shattered the windows and forced the two back.

"This has gone far enough!" A woman in a white leather jacket with matching white pants had _flown_ through one of the shattered windows. Her black hair hung loose, covering the parts her matching white mask didn't.

"Who are you?" Tockman demanded, whipping out a gun from behind.

She thrusted a hand forwards and a powerful wind knocked the gun to the side. She exchanged eyes with Iris, who had also pulled out a gun.

"No need, I've got it handled," she assured Iris. Giving Tockman barely a second to breathe, she had rushed up and pushed him against the wall hard then punched him across the face, letting him fall to the floor unconsciously. She stepped back and glanced at Iris, who was staring with wide eyes. "I hope you're alright," she smiled awkwardly, feeling way out of her comfort zone. "And please, don't think the Flash or the Azalea purposely left you alone. They're caught up in another problem."

"Who are you?" Iris stepped forwards, but the black-haired woman rose from the floor and backed away.

"Absolutely no one," she smiled and neared the window, still levitating. "Now, I'd get back downstairs and get a pair of handcuffs before this guy wakes up. Though I doubt with the punch I gave him he'll wake up soon. Practice _did_ make perfect."

She flew out the window and Iris wasted no time in running for the window to see the woman fly through the dark night.

"Three of them!" Iris said to herself in what was becoming an excited tone.

~ 0 ~

Barry had nabbed his super-suit and intended on finally putting an end to this horrible night. With his speed, he was able to dodge some of Farooq's electric blows. Farooq managed to siphone some of Barry's speed again, but just for a couple of seconds before Barry escaped. Farooq, now angrier, shot another bolt and re-captured Barry. Not letting go, he siphoned as much from Barry as possible.

A strong orange hue took over Barry's figure, that soon spread across to reach Farooq. Both men fell to their knees, growing weaker, but somehow Farooq had the worst and eventually was forced to draw back.

However, once he did, he swayed and fell to the floor dead.

~ 0 ~

In a new prison pod, the group had brought in Farooq's corpse (now in a black bag) for it to remain till further notice. Caitlin was bent over zipping it up.

"We could have called him "Blackout." Cisco excitedly said from the other side.

"I'm just not sure what happened," Barry said, "Why didn't he just siphon all my powers like before?"

Caitlin had finished with the bag and stepped out, allowing Cisco to shut the pod up. She grabbed the tablet Cisco was holding for her and walked over to Barry. "Because you finally stopped thinking about your powers and just connected to them. Look, this is a sample of your blood from just after you were struck by lightning. Now your cells are generating more energy than ever before. It was more energy than the meta could safely handle. It's almost like he choked on you."

"But what does that mean?"

"It means you've kicked it up a notch," Dr. Wells replied with half a smirk.

Barry turned in his direction, guiltily beginning his apology. "Dr. Wells. What I said about how you don't care about people, I…"

"No, look, Barry. There is a reason that my biography describes me as arrogant, prickly, brusque...'at times contemptuous'. I read it twice. You were right. I don't care much for people, Barry. I find them misinformed, shortsighted…"

"So why do you do what you do? Why get up in the morning?"

"Because I believe in a better future, one that I very much want to see, one that you are a part of. I might not much care for people, Barry, but I care about you."

Contently, the group returned to the cortex - though didn't notice Dr. Wells discreetly leave shortly afterwards.

"It's a bit big," Belén came out, wearing a blue STAR Labs sweater, from a side room after Caitlin had given her the 'okay' to get up. Now that her head was clearer, Belén realized that there was a brief _hole_ in her mind. There was a moment she couldn't remember but, because her friends scolded her about apparently fighting Farooq she put the pieces together. The other side had come over her and controlled her for a moment? That was definitely new. It was something that could never happen again. She would just need to learn how to get better and pushing them away until, hopefully, they would just stay away forever.

"Well, next time think twice before going up against an electrical metahuman," Caitlin walked by with Belén's tattered blouse in hand. Belén was picking at the sweater on her, missing the amusing stares she was getting from the others.

"And for almost poisoning us," Cisco meant it as a joke but Belén immediately stopped with her sweater and looked up with an alarmed face. "Bells, don't worry, we know you're still learning that trick," Cisco laughed it off casually. To him, it was no big deal.

"I just need to get the hang of things better," she said, plastering on a small smile for them. "But that can't really happen until I actually get to go out and deal with metahumans. I hope you know that _I_ know you've been purposely keeping me on low-leveled crimes. I thought that maybe with Iris' surprise blog entry about me, you'd give me the chance to show the city that I can help people too."

"We know you can help," Caitlin reassured.

"Then how about you show it from now on," Belén countered. unable to hold back some of her bitterness. She moved over to the main desk and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Goodnight guys," she gave them a wave and started to leave. She wasn't surprised when Barry came after her, calling her name out.

"I'm tired Barry, like emotionally and physically, and I still have to visit the hospital...so can we do this another time?"

"Hospital?" Barry became momentarily distracted.

Belén stopped walking and looked at him curiously. "You haven't seen your phone yet? Iris sent me a text - Eddie's at the hospital. He was shot. Plus, I think it's right I see Nina after, um…"

"Yeah," Barry agrreed, nodding himself. "I want to see her too...can I?"

Belén raised an eyebrow, her fingers lightly tapping on the strap of her bag. "I mean...I guess...but don't think this means I'm forgetting everything I just said to you guys."

"Right," Barry quickly nodded. "Do you want a lift?"

Belén had a to suppress an amused smile as she pointed out to him, "I brought my car, remember? I think I'll drive."

"Right...but you were electrocuted too and Cait said you should take it easy-"

"Well, so were you!"

"But I heal slightly quicker!"

"Oh for goodness sake!" Belén dropped the keys onto Barry's hand and just let it all go for the sake of time. "But you're giving me my car tomorrow morning. And you can't be late!"

"Deal."

~ 0 ~

Unable to find Nina first, Belén and Barry stopped by Eddie's hospital room. Iris and Joe were there looking after him, and frankly waiting for either to show up.

"Hey, Allen," Eddie greeted, his gigglish voice alerting the two newcomers he wasn't quite there at the moment.

"Hey, Eddie," Barry greeted awkwardly, unused to this side of Eddie.

"We brought you some flowers," Belén tried to just go with the flow and presented the small bouquet of flowers they'd gotten for him on the way.

"That's so nice, Belén," Eddie gaped with a mouth wide open, making her quietly laugh.

Iris was looking at her two friends with slight bemusement, one that neither caught. "Where were you two all night?"

Barry exchanged quick looks with Belén, both racking for the simplest of excuses.

"Home," Barry went first, "trying to eat all the ice cream before it melted."

"Yeah, and I was with my dad at home," Belén inputted her own excuse. "Such chaos when a scientist loses power!"

Iris' eyebrows shot up like she were surprised. "Oh, really?"

"Yup," went the other two cheerfully, having no idea what was running through her head at the moment.

"Hm," Iris glanced at Eddie who was still chuckling at his flowers. "Um, Bells, you think you can come with me to get some coffee? It's been a really long day and I want to stay with Eddie for the night."

"Sure thing," Belén nodded, letting Iris walk by first. She gave Barry and Joe an understanding look then followed Iris out.

The women walked silently down the hallway till they got to the coffee machine. Iris pulled a coin from her pocket and dropped it inside, placing a cup in afterwards.

"Have you seen Nina around by any chance?" Belén was looking around for the woman in question.

"No," Iris said, her voice slightly off, "But…I did see your father in another room earlier."

"What!?" Belén blinked, momentarily terrified something happened with him. She realized she hadn't even texted her father that she was coming to the hospital first before going back home.

"Aha!" Iris whirled around, triumphantly pointing at her friend. "Gotcha!"

"Wha-"

"Your dad's been here all night with one of his co-workers because of some accident the blackout caused in Mercury Labs! Which means-" Iris walked up to Belén, "-you lied about being at home with him!"

 _Crap_ , Belén was repeating the word over and over in her head whilst Iris continued.

"You and Barry walked in together, at the same time, and since you're coincidentally wearing the same sweater that Barry just so happens to love so much I think it's pretty clear where you're coming from…" the wide smirk across Iris' lips had Belén sputtering and with a completely red face.

"I-it's - _no_! N-not a-at all, n-no! _No_! I-Iris how c-could you...no!" Belén fiercely shook her head, one hand going up to her temple. "That's not a-at _all_ what h-happened! Iris!" By this point, Iris had begun to laugh. "It's not funny! You are completely delirious if you think _that_ is what happened!"

"I'm just pointing out what I see! And what I see-"

"What you _see_ is a very completely different sweater," Belén snapped, mortified in embarrassment. "You know they make more than just one right?"

"Then where'd you get that one from?" Iris pointed at the sweater, just barely able to contain her next laugh. "Because if Cisco had given you one, he would've done it months ago and you would have worn it then. Plus, you still lied and I'm more than betting Barry lied too! Just come out and say it, huh?" she gave Belén a nudge. "You and Barry were tog-"

"NO!" Belén sounded like she was pleading, her face now fading red to pinkness. "Iris, honestly, that's not it at all!"

"Uh, what's going on?" Nina's voice broke through their conversation. She was walking towards them, eyes flickering in confusion from one to another.

"Oh nothing," Iris smirked at Belén as she went back for her coffee.

"Nothing," Belén agreed with a mutter. "Nina, can we talk for a moment, please?"

"Sure…" Nina was still trying to figure out what they weren't telling her.

"I'll be at Eddie's room," Iris waved to both and left, but not before giving Belén one more suggestive nudge.

"Okay, _what_ happened?" Nina was now demanding, but the trace of amusement on her face had Belén more on the defensive side.

"Absolutely nothing!" she hissed.

Nina had herself a laugh. "No need to be mean, Bells. Just because you were attacked doesn't mean you get to be rude to others."

Belén took a long breath and slowly calmed down. "I just wanted to thank you - actually, Barry and I wanted to thank you for, uh, what you did…" she had lowered her voice in case anyone walked by.

Nina fiddled with her fingers. "I didn't do it to be thanked. You were right, it was much bigger than me just outright saying 'no'. Plus, between you and me, it was kinda fun…"

The two giggled at the idea. Nina was so uptight sometimes, Belén could scarcely imagine her being hero for a night.

"Plus, I figured since I _am_ a doctor I had a responsibility," Nina added.

"Well, you know now that Cisco is going to want you to come in for some measurements cos you're gonna get a suit."

"No way!" Nina shook her head but she was close to laughing again. "I just used the outfit Felicity helped out with but...me wearing an actual super suit?"

"And you can have a cape!" Belén gasped as the ideas came to her. "Oh! That would be so cool! I wish I could fly, honestly."

"I wish I could poison people at hand," Nina countered with. Belén soon got to remembering her incident earlier, nearly poisoning people she cared about because she wasn't in control.

"Hey!" Barry showed up from down the hallway. "Nina!" he looked ecstatic to see the older woman.

"Hello, Barry," Nina greeted him politely.

"Nina, I just want to thank you for tonight," Barry began, but Nina chuckled.

"Don't bother, Belén already covered it up."

"But still, thank you. Joe and Iris are like my family, and you saved them. Thank you."

Nina nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a patient to go see to."

"It's not Eddie is it? Because he is still laughing it up at sunflowers…"

"No, not until later," Nina chuckled and went on her way.

"Is he really laughing still?" Belén curiously asked him afterwards.

"Oh yeah," Barry nodded, unusually serious then. "Bells, about earlier, um...I sort of asked the others not to let you...take on metas just yet."

"You called the shots again," Belén said, crossing her arms. "Barry, I don't want to do that again. You making the decisions for me? That's not going to work."

"I know, I'm sorry. I just worry," Barry confessed. "I don't like knowing that you're gonna get hurt out there-"

"Because knowing _you're_ gonna get hurt is _so_ much better," Belén sarcastically went. "It's a 50/50 partnership here. I'd like my 50 _now_."

"40," Barry said jokingly, even narrowing his eyes to bargain with her.

"50!"

"39?"

"50!"

"45!"

"Barry, c'mon!" Belén whacked him on the arm, her bag's strap half-falling down her arm. "Have you seen what women can do out there? Nina kicked ass today, and she was just starting. Did you see what the Canary could do in her days? I don't need protecting, okay?"

"Maybe...just a little?" Barry made a gesture with his fingers, and although Belén wanted to be completely serious she laughed. "Like, the necessary? You know, having each other's back?"

"Fine," Belén gave in, "but only because that sounds fair."

Barry made a victory punch in the air and made her laugh again. Afterwards, he finished his success with a hug.

Mistake number…?

Iris had returned for sugar for her coffee and stopped immediately at the sight of her friends hugging. With a smirk, she stepped back around the corner, poking her head to see them again.

Oh, those two were definitely going out, she thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I loved this episode, honestly. And the chapter too (but I'm biased since I'm the author sooo...). So, we got to see Belén and her new suit which definitely involved no skirts just like she wanted xD. Plus, we even got a glimpse of Nina's powers! But most importantly, we also saw _that_ side of Belén's powers coming out to play for the first time. Yikes! At least in the end she got her 50/50 partnership which is a big win in that day so yay!

P.s have you guys seen the Crisis on Earth-X crossover stills? Killer Frost coming out to fight? Supergirl (Overgirl) evil? Reverse Flash back? Captain Cold too? This girl right here is dying *heart eyes*

 **For the Review:**

Thank you so much! I'm glad to know you're liking it so far! Axel is hilarious to write because he's like four so he doesn't know any better. Yikes, that moment for Belén will not be pretty for her, obviously, so...yikes .-.

* * *

Next chapter is the Flarrow crossover and that episode was so good for me that I can't wait for you guys to read it! As always, thank you all for reading! Leave a comment or a thought if you'd like! :)


	11. A Woman Like You

Belén made way down the street to CC Pictures to start the workday. Halfway down, she heard her phone buzz from her bag and pulled it out, thinking it to be perhaps a metahuman call. It was a text message from an unknown number.

 _Would you like to see your brother again? Answer 'yes' to continue._

Belén's first instinct was to look around as if the mysterious texter would just be standing there watching her. _Don't be stupid, Belén_ , she thought to herself.

Her fingers typed 'yes' as instructed and she pressed the send button. It was stupid thinking this was actually real, but after several weeks of being stumped on her brother's case she had to take everything she could to progress. A couple (but very long) seconds passed before her phone vibrated again.

 _There's a way to see him, Belén, and it's so simple. He wants to see you too, but you have to cooperate._

"What?" Belén furrowed her brow in confusion, her fingers quickly typing back to response.

 _This is no joke. Rayan Palayta, age 25, middle child of David Palayta_ _and Veronica Green. Eldest twin by two minutes. Not enough proof? Well, he has a birthmark on his right arm in the shape of what you called as a cloud._

Belén let her bag drop to the ground, gulping involuntarily. Another message was received.

 _If you want to find out more meet me tomorrow night. I can reunite you with him, but you have to know things and understand them...and make a decision. Do you accept this forewarning?_

Belén scowled, but the fear and anxiety that was desperately clinging to her face sold her out. ' _This is a joke_ ', she typed back, along with ' _I'm calling the cops._ '

 _Do it at your own expense. Your brother is no idiot. He wants to see you but he can only do it if you are willing to accept him as he is now._

Belén was too confused at the moment to "accept" whatever it was she was being offered. She needed to talk to someone but, as if reading her mind, she received another message.

 _If you decide to tell anyone about this, Plasticine will come after them...with some new friends. Do it at your own expense. But, c'mon, all this senseless searching can stop if you just follow my instructions. Think about it._

Belén shuddered a breath and clutched her phone, her mind spinning yet she was frozen to her spot on the sidewalk like a statue. She couldn't decide, she couldn't think. _Was_ there a way to think about this? Well, she certainly didn't know where to even begin that was for sure. She certainly wasn't expecting a gust of wind hitting her face at that second. Her right hand suddenly held a bright sunflower that she was sure she hadn't picked up on her own.

"Hey Bells!" Barry had stopped right beside her, unknowingly causing her a moment of panic.

"H-hi Barry," she stuffed her phone in her pocket and plastered a nice smile across her face. "Don't you have work?"

"Slow morning," Barry gave a light shrug. "Which is...kinda good in a way…"

Belén agreed with a nod then looked down at her new sunflower. "Where did you get the flower from?"

A wide smile broke across Barry's face. "I've been out...doing things…"

"Ah, so it wasn't quite a slow morning then," Belén said.

"For the Flash. But you? Aren't you gonna be late for work?"

"Work?" Belén repeated in momentary confusion then blinked. "Work, right! Right, I'm gonna be late!"

She had started speed walking when Barry gave her a shout and she glanced back to see him holding her forgotten bag from the ground.

"Why did you drop it?" Barry chuckled as he handed it back to her.

"You scared me," was her great excuse. She turned and continued towards CC Pictures.

"My bad," Barry went after her, noticing something strange with her. "Are you alright?"

"Me? Yeah, yeah. Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" she started talking in that quick rambling. "It's a great morning, ready for an eventful day at work where hopefully my partner finished our new article and we can have a free afternoon. So, of course I'm fine!"

Somehow, Barry didn't quite believe her.

He opened one of the glass doors for her and went in afterwards. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me anything else?"

"Um…" Belén seriously considered telling him about the text for a moment. After all, he'd already faced Plasticine before so he wouldn't be at a greater risk than anyone else. But then again, the Flash had faced him, not Barry. If they were watching her they would go in after Barry and not his alter ego. She didn't want that under any circumstances.

"Bells, good news!" Noah had spotted her from his desk and walked over.

Belén once again snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her partner. "M-morning…"

"I handed the article already and they loved it. We'll have an easy day today!"

"S-see? Good morning, easy day," Belén said to Barry, not quite yet acting herself.

Now Barry was sure she was hiding something.

"You must be Barry," Noah pointed at him then to the sunflower in Belén's hand, "...boyfriend, right?"

Both Belén and Barry deeply sighed, Barry putting a hand to his forehead while Belén shook her head.

"Has my friend Iris been around here by any chance?" Belén asked.

"Yeah, she came in earlier. Talked a lot about you guys," Noah chuckled.

"I thought you were gonna take care of that," Belén said to Barry, mildly annoyed nothing had changed.

"I thought I did!" he exclaimed.

"Well, you didn't!"

"It's not my fault, you know how Iris is…"

"Yeah…"

Of course they knew how their mutual friend Iris was. Ever since the Blackout incidence she had somehow gotten the idea that Belén and Barry were dating. When Belén explained to Barry the origin of Iris' beliefs - the fact Belén wore a STAR Labs that was similar to Barry's in size - Barry had more or less reacted the same way as Belén with matching expressions and redness. As much as they tried to convince Iris it wasn't true, she wouldn't budge from her idea.

"I know what I saw," she would say right before taking a triumphant exit stride from either or both at the same time.

Now, wherever they happened to go together about 70% of the people there would comment on how nice of a couple they made.

"I think I'm gonna go," Barry said, or more like volunteered to get out before more comments were made. Luckily enough, (in his case anyways), his phone went off and picking it up he got a metahuman alert.

Belén had gotten a bare glimpse of the ID and sprang after him. "Wait! Let me come with you-"

"You really want to give these people more reasons to buy Iris' story?" Barry asked quietly, his eyes flickering from one co-worker to another.

"No…" Belén said quietly, glumly glancing back. While Noah had returned to his desk she knew he was still glancing at them when they weren't looking.

"Besides, I can handle it. If I truly need help, you'll get the ping, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Gotta go then," Barry waved and hurried out the door.

With a quiet sigh, Belén turned back and walked towards her desk. She had barely two minutes to herself when Noah returned.

"The next topic!" he began but Belén dramatically groaned.

"Noah, it's not that I don't like writing with you - because I really do - but we just sent in our last one!"

Noah chuckled. "But we're journalists and this is our job - day to day coverage. And boy is there a good story out there."

"Yeah? Like what?" Belén propped her elbows on her desk, resting her cheeks on her hands. "Is it another metahuman story? I really loved the one Iris posted on her blog, remember?" Of course after seeing Nina in action for the first time (though Iris didn't know it had been Nina), Iris had created a whole post on Nina thanking her and introducing her to the city, though without a proper name. Nina had been so shocked she nearly fainted. Everyone else thought it was wonderful that Nina was being thanked.

"No," Noah said pointedly. "Well, yeah, but...not in the way your friend's been writing them." At this, Belén tilted her head curiously. "These three sudden 'heros' trying to meddle with our city!"

"Meddle-"

"They're acting like they're these Gods when all they're going to do in the end is hurt people! Plus, all the chaos they've caused so far fighting those other people with powers?

"B-but... _why_?" Belén's voice cracked from her shock as she straightened up on her chair. "I think the Flash, the Azalea and this third hero have done a good job so far."

Noah scoffed, or snorted - either way it didn't to please Belén. "Oh please, the Flash is just a glorified freak that occasionally saves the day. I bet when we're not looking he does all sorts of bad things. And the Azalea? She _poisons_. How do we know she hasn't done that to some poor citizen out there?" Belén couldn't decide what hurt more in all those sentences. "Belén, these people are only hurting our city, and it's time we exposed them for who they really are."

"No," she said firmly, meeting his gaze, "I'm not doing that topic."

"What?" Noah studied her briefly. "Why not?"

"Because I can't write in what I don't believe in. And I certainly don't believe that the Flash and the Azalea are bad people."

"Belén, c'mon, I get that you have some bias because Iris writes a blog dedicated to these people but even you have to see that a 'burning man'" - he raised air quotation marks - "can't lead to anything good in our city."

"I'm going to remind you that it's because of the Flash that I'm still breathing. And thanks to the Azalea and our other woman, my friend and her Dad got out alive from a hostage situation."

"Oh but what do you think they do when they're not in the eye of the public?"

"Maybe just living their lives?" Yes, now Belén felt anger. She couldn't believe she was even having this discussion. "Just because you're a little different doesn't make you a bad person, Noah. I thought you of all people would get that."

"People with these extraordinary powers won't just sit there and play hero for all eternity," Noah said earnestly, "Don't you think it's strange that out of every single person with powers the public has come to know only _three_ have so far declared theirselves 'good'? I think that in the end, those three, will either get themselves killed or...join the other side."

"I don't think that," Belén said quietly.

Noah shrugged. "I think it's true. Who knows, maybe one day we'll see the Flash stealing...or the Azalea poisoning?"

"Never!" Belén said, accidentally a little louder than she intended. She earned herself pretty odd looks from their co-workers and gave Noah a stern stare in the end. "They would never do that."

"Maybe for special reasons they would," Noah said, acting triumphant as he walked off.

~ 0 ~

When lunch time came, Belén left CC Pictures and got into her car. She really didn't have a destination because all she could think about was that mysterious texter. She pulled out her phone and stared at the texts she received in the morning. She knew she could send them to Felicity and get a track on it, but she remembered the warning. What if by doing that she ruined any chance of seeing her brother again? Foolishly, she decided to call the number.

The line ran...and rang...and rang...until…

"Hello?" A clearly modified male voice had answered the call. Belén's eyes widened, but her mouth turned dry with no words in mind. "Belén Palayta?" the modified man asked, or assumed. "You're calling, hm...will you be accepting to meet with me?"

Belén opened her mouth and forced at least some words to come out. "Y-you're...you're real…" Okay, maybe that wasn't the right words to say at the moment.

The man lightly chortled. "Of course I am, as you are...as your brother is."

"Rayan...Rayan, where's Rayan!?" she exclaimed. "Where is my brother!?"

"He's quite fine," the man assured, "And he really wants to see you again too. He's been watching you, actually."

"Watching…" Belén mumbled and looked around, expecting to see someone staring at her. _Stop doing that_ _!_ she berated herself and focused on the call instead.

"Yes, he's always watching you, Belén. Because he loves you. He loves you and he wants to reunite with you."

"Me!" Belén blinked rapidly. "I-I want to see him! T-take m-me to him, please! Take me!" With rapid blinking she was able to push away some of the tears.

"You're going to have to cooperate with me here," the man said calmly.

"N-no! I have to see him _now_! Please," she sniffed as tears rolled down her cheeks, "Let me see him...I...I'll do whatever you ask...please…"

"If you want to see your brother, you'll have to see me first," the man declared, and already had Belén nodding.

"Ok-kay, okay fine," Belén nodded, "I'll meet with you. Where? When?"

"Tomorrow night. Seven p.m. by the park fountain - I believe it holds a special meaning to you?"

For a split second Belén thought back to her secret meetings with Barry as 'the Flash' by that very fountain...but then she realized he probably meant the altar she'd placed for Rayan. _Priorities_ , Belén thought and scolded herself...and maybe blushed too.

"Okay," she agreed again.

"And one more thing, tell no one or the deal is off. You go to any of your police friends and you won't live to tell the story."

Belén swallowed hard, nodding like she were being watched. The line died afterwards. Taking a deep breath, Belén wiped her face of any tears and traces that she was crying. When her phone buzzed again, she was a little reluctant to answer but seeing Barry's name she relaxed and took the call. She was to meet him at the precinct where they would head to STAR Labs together. The moment she stepped out of her car, she did her best to clear her entire appearance of anything that would giveaway of her troubles. But as luck would have it, she came at the front door just when Iris did.

"Hey!" Iris greeted cheerfully. "Going up too?"

"Yeah," Belén said quietly, opening the glass doors for her.

"Going up to see Barry, huh?" As Iris walked behind her, Belén missed her wide smirk across her lips.

"Can we not do it, please?" Belén sighed when they entered the elevator together. "I'm just...I'm really not in the mood right now."

It was then that Iris realized the dejected demeanor her usually cheery friend had on her face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Co-worker problems," Belén left it at that, figuring it really was the truth. "He...he had some ideas I just didn't agree with."

"Like what?"

The elevator doors slid open and they stepped out.

"He, um, has this crazy idea that the Flash, the Azalea and all the other people with powers are a complete terror to the city, basically."

" _What_?" Iris' eyes widened in full horror.

"My thoughts exactly," Belén shrugged and headed for the main room where she could already see Barry standing.

"N-n-n-n-no! You have to talk him out of that!" Iris scurried behind her.

"Right now, I don't even want to look at him," Belén clarified and came to a stop beside Barry, following his gaze towards Singh's office. "What's going on there?"

"I think Eddie's trying to convince the Captain that the Flash is a public menace," Barry replied back, his voice grim even though he was trying to be as unattached as possible.

"Oh, c'mon!" Belén shook her head. "What is it with people today?"

At that moment, Eddie walked out of the office with Joe a couple feet behind. Iris didn't give him a chance to separate from the group.

"So after weeks of my trying to convince you that the Flash and the Azalea are real, now that you finally do believe me, you're trying to have one of them arrested? What the hell?"

Eddie would have said that he actually wanted both arrested but decided to keep that for another conversation. "Thanks, Barry," he shot the other man a look.

"Sorry," Barry backed away into a chair.

"What is with people and not understanding about these extraordinary heroes out there?" Belén scowled. "You know, I just finished having a similar conversation with my co-worker Noah about this. You both want innocent people arrested."

Eddie sighed. "No worries, Belén, the captain shot me down. Look," he glanced to Iris, "I'm not feeling like lunch. See you later."

"We're not done," Iris scowled and went after him.

Belén took a breath, crossing her arms. Behind her, Barry called from his chair. "What was that about Noah?"

"Hmm?" Belén glanced over her shoulder, an index finger nail going between her teeth.

"Bells?" Barry raised an eyebrow.

Belén sighed and turned to him. "I'm sorry, but Noah has this crazy idea that you and I...that every metahuman is a criminal. That is a topic he wanted to do for our next article. I couldn't do it, we argued and I got mad."

"I would think as a journalist we would be like a hit for them to talk over and over about," Barry made a face, not as worried as he would've been if Eddie had succeeded with his task-force idea. What could a journalist do to him? He winced - Belén was nearing kicking his behind anytime now during their practices.

"I couldn't change his mind," Belén said sadly, briefly, then frowned again. "So I got mad and ignored him - still am actually."

A cheeky smile broke across Barry's face then. "Thank you for defending me - well, _us_."

"Barry?" Joe came by, "Don't you need to get to STAR Labs? The both of you?" he looked between the two.

"What? Why?" Belén tilted her head, confused.

"I'll explain as we go," Barry got up from his chair and gestured her to walk out first.

"I'm still getting something for lunch," she warned as they headed for the elevator. "Because remember you said I was getting food first."

"Wouldn't dream of depriving you of food," Barry playfully rolled his eyes, walking her into the elevator.

~ 0 ~

After a quick lunch - in which Barry sped by Big Belly Burger and nabbed some food for himself and Belén - they made it to S.T.A.R. Labs. Fully explaining the newest metahuman he'd encountered earlier in the day, Barry let them make their own deductions.

"Anger, hate, aggression…" Dr. Wells began his assessment when Cisco interjected in a 'Yoda tone'.

"A Jedi craves not these things," he took in all the looks and frowned. "No one is feeling that quote?"

"Only you," Belén gave him a light pat on the shoulder.

"Everyone in the bank went total savage for, like, five minutes," Barry said, still alarmed from such a sight. "And then they were fine again."

"Anger can be a powerful emotion. If this meta-human can engender irrational feelings of anger in his victims, he can do a lot of damage," Wells pointed out the key problem that had Barry so alarmed.

"Detective West helped get a copy of the cat scans the hospital did on everyone at the bank," Caitlin came in with a small USB in hand and plugged it into a desk computer. She had the scans visible on the computers of the walls as well. "Take a look. The emotion centers of the brains are still showing signs of being overwhelmed. Particularly the area that controls executive function. That's the part of the brain that stops people from doing whatever random and potentially destructive thing that pops into their head."

"So exactly how does this metahuman control that?" Belén tilted her head as she stared at the results. She couldn't quite comprehend exactly what she was looking at but she got the jist.

"That's the 1/2 million dollar question," Caitlin sighed.

"I'm a journalist, I ask those everyday," Belén lightly smiled to herself. "Speaking of, I gotta get back to work."

"You sure you want to do that?" Barry glanced at her, noticing she was still lacking the usual excitement she had for her work.

"No, but I have to stop Noah from his stupid idea," Belén went for her bag she left on the desk.

"What idea?" Cisco curiously asked.

"Noah has the particular idea that metahumans need to be stopped, specifically the Flash and the Azalea," Belén shook her head. "He wants to write that in our next article. I refuse to write that with him so I'm aiming to make him stop altogether."

"That...won't be good publicity," Caitlin's eyes half-widened.

"Belén, I think it goes without saying that's a bad idea and it can't make it to the public," Wells said, giving her a stern look.

Belén nodded. "Of course, I will do everything I can to make sure he never even gets to type a sentence for that article." She grabbed her bag and bid goodbyes to them before taking off. She was midway down the corridor when Barry came after her, and sped up till he was blocking her way.

"I don't want you to feel like this is an obligation you have to do," he said earnestly. "Don't lose your job, alright?"

Belén smiled. "I'm not gonna lose my job over this. My boss doesn't even believe you exist, so I'm sure when Noah goes to him with the idea he'll be shot down. I'll just try my best so that Noah doesn't even get to that stage."

"Just...just don't...do anything that can get you fired. I rather take the bad review than have you lose the job."

"It won't come to that," Belén lightly chuckled and began to walk around when she heard Barry's phone go off behind. "Barry," she stopped suddenly, half-turning, "...you're not...still seeing Iris, right?" Barry was in the middle of checking his phone, and when he looked up his guilty face told her the answer. "I thought we agreed neither of us would see her again," Belén sighed, fully turning in his direction.

"It's...hard…" Barry began, the two words not able to fully describe his situation. Thankfully, Belén understood it completely.

"I get it, she's like your sister and you tell each other everything. These small meetings is as close as you'll get to telling her you're the Flash-"

"You got all that from 'it's hard'?" Barry blinked at her, mildly impressed.

Belén shrugged. "I think I've learned enough about you to assume. But look, it's not safe for Iris to keep contacting you, or any metahuman. She keeps posting it on her blog and one of these days someone is going to pick up on it."

"I don't want to disappoint her…"

"I would rather disappoint her than lament her getting hurt."

"I know you're right," Barry nodded his head, but this still didn't seem to ease Belén's thoughts.

"Saying I'm right isn't the same as saying you'll stop," she crossed her arms. "But please, do think about it." She left him carefully considering her warning, and she sincerely hoped he would listen to her.

~ 0 ~

Getting back to CC Pictures was, for once, something Belén wasn't excited for. The first thing she met with was Linda, who was curiously wondering about the unusual silence there was between Belén and Noah.

"It's just not your typical workday," Linda was following Belén around, this time appearing as the intern. "What's wrong?"

"Creative differences," Belén answered in the same manner she'd done with Iris.

"Well, you can't actually be fighting over different opinions," Linda made a face behind her. "That's actually, like, really unprofessional, Belén."

Belén stopped by the water cooler and poured herself a small foam cup. "Think I don't know that, Linda? It's just a topic that hits close to home and I don't like how Noah's dealing with it."

'Well, what's it about?" Linda crossed her arms.

Belén didn't answer, however, as she drank from her cup. Before she was finished, the man in question showed up behind the two.

"I dislike the famous 'red blur' of the city," he had his hands behind his back, a neutral expression across his face. He certainly didn't seem upset, and this only made Belén feel worse.

"So?" Linda arched an eyebrow, waiting for the big problem to be explained.

"I want to run an article on him and the reasons why people should be distrusting towards him and all the other people like him that are running amock in the city."

"But that's just it," Belén lowered her cup, "The Flash isn't doing anything wrong - he's saved countless people. And, when it wasn't him, it was the Azalea helping."

"Oh, and don't forget the flying girl who saved the hostages from the precinct during the blackout," Linda pointed at her, apparently seeming to side with Belén.

"Thank you," Belén made a gesture towards her then looked back at Noah. "See? How are you going to badmouth these people that have only been doing good?"

"By using all the people who've done wrong," Noah said calmly. "We can't ignore that while only three of those people have turned out to be 'okay' the rest have been nothing but right terrors. Plus, when the Flash and the Azalea have fought, they've left destruction for us to clean up."

"I can't believe you're still going forth with this," Belén was in utter disappointment with her co-worker.

"Belén, I just think that the people need to know about the dangers," Noah sighed. "There are others who would agree with me if I happened to speak up."

"I would say there wasn't," Belén said matter-of-factly.

"How about a deal then?" Noah proposed suddenly, grabbing both womens' attention.

"Oh yeah, what is it?" Belén stepped forwards.

"If I can get someone to back me up on my ideals I get to run the article."

"Like who? Who qualifies?"

"Let's leave that to our wonderful superior here," Noah gestured over to Linda. "Who would qualify as good references?"

"Um...well," Linda nervously looked between the two, "I would say someone of a credible status - a psychologist? Perhaps a Doctor - if anyone would have good insights of victims it'd be them. Um, maybe cops too. You know, cos they're out in the field. Firefighters? There was a case of a burning man somewhere earlier last week they had to deal with..."

"Okay, I can do that," Noah confidently assured her, and specifically Belén.

"Okay fine," Belén nodded herself. "And when you can't find anyone you drop this topic for completely, got it?"

"Got it," Noah widely smiled and extended his hand to her. "Deal, Miss Palayta?"

"Deal Mr. Gilan," Belén playfully rolled her eyes and shook his hand. "I look forwards to seeing you _lose_." Noah gave a lighthearted laugh but nonetheless continued shaking hands with her.

~ 0 ~

Once her shift was over, Belén returned to S.T.A.R Labs to inform her friends of the bet she'd taken on.

"Are you sure that was a good idea to accept?" Caitlin asked, her worried tone making no effect on the other two.

"He's not going to find anyone," Belén discarded with a waving hand. "I mean, first, he'd have to find someone that _isn't_ a fan of these superheroes. That alone will stump him."

"Good going, Bells!" Cisco laughed and high-fived with her.

"Don't count victory already," Caitlin issued her warning. "It's a big city…"

"Don't be so jumpy, Cait," Belén smiled. "Treat it more like a TV show. You know, a funny one. Least that's how I'll be viewing it! Where's the protagonist anyways? I need to tell him."

"He's actually out right now, with some old friends," Caitlin said, exchanging a look with Cisco.

"Really? Who?"

"Well, um, the Arrow…"

Belén blinked rapidly in silence for a minute or so, then shook her head. "No, sorry, come again?"

"He appeared!" Cisco excitedly exclaimed. "Now Barry's out meeting with him!"

Belén did not share his excitement. Instead, she wondered, "Why would the Arrow be here?"

"That's what Barry went to find out," Caitlin shrugged. "But, between you and me, Dr. Wells isn't happy about it."

"He's not?"

"No, in fact, he's over there-" Caitlin jerked a thumb towards another room, "-right now, talking with Joe, about this."

"That's not good…" Belén made a face.

"No, it is not," Cisco popped in a lollipop into his mouth.

"I know they want to speak with you and Barry," Caitlin apologetically smiled at Belén as if it were her fault.

"Definitely not good," Belén pouted and turned away.

Not a couple minutes later did they hear the familiar rush of wind from the cortex room. They heard the distinctable voice of Barry, then Felicity Smoak's shriek.

When the three came out they saw poor Felicity ripping off her blouse that was smoking

"I'm glad I decided not to go bra-less," she breathed in outright terror once Barry finished stomping on the blouse till the smoke was gone. Both jumped at the sight of the other three across them. Felicity clutched her purse in front of her chest.

"You guys remember Felicity?" Barry cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'll _always_ remember this," Cisco said back in a near trance till Belén elbowed him on the side.

Caitlin snatched a blue S.T.A.R. Labs sweater off a chair and ran forwards. "Hi, Felicity, it's so good to see you. What brings you back to Central City? Not Barry?"

"No, not Barry," Felicity quickly discarded the idea as she pulled the sweater over her head. "This?" she gestured between herself and Barry. "Not happening. We looked down that road and we said 'no, thank you'."

"You guys... _dated_?" Belén blinked, looking between the two with a strange feeling making her stomach churn.

"Well, no…" began Felicity at the same time Barry did.

"I-it was nothing-"

"-didn't you hear me? I said not-"

"-almost like a blur really-"

"Hm," Belén crossed her arms, awkwardly. _Wait_ , she thought, why did she feel awkward?

Also feeling that awkward tension, Felicity moved the subject onto business. "Actually, guys," she shuffled in her purse, "I'm here... because of this."

Cisco gaped at the sight of platinum boomerang Felicity had taken out from a plastic evidence bag. In no less than a second he was holding it. "Awesome! What are the wings made of?"

"Not sure... I'm thinking some sort of composite or high-density plastic…"

"Reinforced with carbon fiber. Oh, that's weird. It almost feels like it's...

As they conversed over the properties and whatnot, Cisco and Felicity walked away, too engulfed to even say goodbye.

"Vibrating…."

"...Yeah…"

"...Yeah…"

"Oh, I wanna run some tests, and I wanna run 'em right now!"

"Mm-hmm!"

Belén shook her head and walked for the desk where she'd left her things. "I understood no frikin part of that. Honestly, you guys make me feel stupid sometimes."

Caitlin smiled and walked after her. "To be fair, none of us here speak the language Cisco does," they exchanged looks of amusements.

"Hey, you guys come up with anything new on our meta?" Barry asked, also coming towards them.

Caitlin nodded and proceeded to bring up several tabs on one of the computers for him to see.

"The officer who was affected tonight says he saw a flash of red before he lost control. I suspect the meta is inducing rage via the ocular nerve."

"So how do we stop a guy like that?" Belén curiously inquired, her eyes drifting in thought.

"That's what we we're going to look into tonight," Caitlin pointed at her.

"You do that then, because I have to get home now. Knowing Noah's going to lose I'm going to be kind and look up some other topics for him."

"Oh, Dr. Wells wants to see you, remember?" Caitlin stopped her midway out the room.

"No," Belén glanced back, "He wants to see Barry."

"Me?" Barry was all too quick in frowning.

"And you," Caitlin reminded Belén, softly smiling when she saw the ombre-blonde fidgeting nervously. "You're not in trouble...ish…" To be frank, she wasn't sure what the topic of the conversation would be but she was just hoping for the best.

Belén reluctantly came back, left her things at the desk and walked with Barry to meet with Dr. Wells and Joe.

"I feel like a student being sent to the principal's office," Belén awkwardly coughed then added, "Though I wasn't actually sent ever…"

Both Joe and Dr. Wells remained totally serious in whatever manner they were going to be speaking about with the two.

"Starling City vigilante?" Joe looked at Barry inquisitively, his statement sounding more like a question.

Though not quite following, Barry pointed out, "He calls himself 'The Arrow' now."

"Oh, does he... "Flash"?" Wells arched an eyebrow, slowly looking to Belén. "Azalea?"

"I'm not...following," Belén said slowly, "... _is_ there a problem?"

"We don't trust him," Wells declared, Joe nodding his agreement.

Barry made a face. "You guys don't even know him."

"I know that he was wanted for murder in at least 12 different cases dating back three years," Joe reminded matter-of-factly.

"I know there's been at least two major terrorist attacks in Starling since he became active," Wells made sure to add in.

"But you weren't there - it's not like he asked for it," Belén scowled. "And even then, I can vouch for him when I say he does not kill people anymore. I was there."

"And what about all the criminals that he put arrows through? Those, what, don't count?"

"He's a hero, Joe," Barry began scowling in the same manner as Belén did. "He helped Belén in a way S.T.A.R. Labs wasn't able to - and wihtout knowing her!"

"Yes, and while helping, he did also alter her," Wells replied quite calmly much to Belén's confusion.

"E-excuse me?" she was shaking her head.

"After only two months you come back as a woman who knows how to fight and isn't afraid to," Wells further explained. "I would hate to imagine what he can do around both of you if you were to 'teamup'. He's not the kind either of you should be looking up to."

Silently, Belén and Barry exchanged looks. Yes, they could understand where the adults were coming from but it didn't mean they were right.

~ 0 ~

Belén returned home to find her father setting up the dining table with an elderly woman, both chuckling over something.

"Hi Dad," Belén greeted just as her father put down an empty glass on the table.

The elderly woman, who had short blonde hair and dark brown eyes, turned to Belén with a cheery smile. "Oh, hello Belén-" she greeted with a thick English accent, "-I hope you don't mind me dropping in for dinner. Your father invited me."

Belén smiled as she walked further in, dropping her things on the couch. "No, of course not, Mrs. Andrews. You know you're part of the family." Mrs. Andrews was probably the only neighbor Belén spoke to in their street. It helped that she'd known Mrs. Andrews since she was a child.

"Oh, I also brought over some gifts from my trip," Mrs. Andrews gestured to the coffee table in the living room where several gifts were sitting at. "Two of them is for Maritza and Axel. And of course your mother's I already sent to her with a friend."

"I told her she didn't need to do that," Belén's father said, shaking his head as he went to the kitchen.

"Well, my grandson in particular insisted that I bring back something for _you_ ," Mrs. Andrews said quietly so that only Belén would hear, even winking. Belén flushed and followed Mrs. Andrews' gaze at the blue-wrapped present on the coffee table. "Julian sends his regards, dear."

"Tell him I say 'hello' too," Belén honestly said of her childhood friend. "And that I miss him," she added before going to her seat at the table.

Dinner was a nice casserole that her father had managed to make through his busy schedule. For a while, Belén forgot of her problems at work and even of the newest metahuman lurking in the city. Mrs. Andrews was all for talking about her trip to Britain and, once more, urging Belén and her father to visit the city. It was the same story every time Mrs. Andrews went away, and every time Belén and her father would merely remark that they of course would go one day.

Later that night, Belén spent time looking over the topics she was planning on sharing with Noah once he lost his bet. Her father was sitting across her, his spot covered in multiple scientific papers and whatnot. But, as time went on, Belén found she was incapable of focusing on her topics. She was thinking about what Joe and Wells had said to her and Barry earlier. It was quite a horrific view of Oliver Queen they had, but even she had to admit she was pretty afraid the first time she met with him. His way of doing things were definitely darker than what STAR Labs usually did, one she certainly couldn't imagine Barry going through with, and much less herself.

"Belén?" her father's voice rang through the room, immediately making her look up from her laptop screen. He was staring at her suspiciously, though a tad worried. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, Dad, just fine," she cleared her throat and acted as if she were focused on whatever her screen provided her with. "I've got a ton of work…" But her eyes drifted back to the paperwork around him, "...although I don't think I beat you." Her father smiled and pulled some papers together. "Dad, what is all that stuff anyways?"

"Nothing," this time it was he assuring her.

"Oh, so now it's top secret that even I can't know about?" Belén lightly laughed. "I won't go putting it in the news if that's what you're worried about. Or...STAR Labs," she added in a dramatic whisper.

David rolled his eyes at his daughter. "It's just an important piece Mercury Labs has been working on now. It's nothing you'd be interested in-"

"Or understanding," Belén, suddenly glumly, added. David raised an eyebrow at her. "It's nothing…"

"Oh no, you made me tell now it's your turn!"

Belén smiled. "Dad, you wouldn't want to, honestly. It's like...friend stuff…"

"You know I have friends, right?" her father deadpanned.

"It's a little weird, okay?"

"Try me, sweetheart. C'mon!"

Giving up, Belén resorted to talking. "You know that my friends - Caitlin, Cisco, Barry - are like... _super_ smart. They're basic scientists, and I love that about them but sometimes I feel like I don't fit in well with them."

"But they don't do this on purpose…" her father meant to ask and she quickly shot down the idea.

"Oh no! They're all basic sweethearts! They would never intentionally make me feel inferior." Belén exhaled deeply, feeling like such a child for saying this out loud. "But...we have these friends who just came in, and...one of them is a freaking genius - like, Mercury Labs material genius."

"And you feel threatened?"

"Yes, well...yes," Belén looked down shamefully. "She's so sweet and she's never made one rude remark but I can't help feel like this. Does that make me a bad person?"

"No, honey, that just makes you _a_ person," her father softly smiled. "You're just pout of your element there. You are about writing, social work, people to people. Science is a little more reserved, quiet. You, Annah-Belén Palayta, are _not_ a quiet person." Belén flushed in embarrassment, not even going to argue in her defense. "This girl you're talking about, she does what for a living?"

"She works at Queen Consolidated."

"And that's great for her. But she will always be her, and you will always be your beautiful, fervent self. The world needs a woman like you, Belén-"

"Dad…" Belén laughed once again in embarrassment, berating herself for not having predicted this mushy talk.

"...and I know that one day someone special will see this too. Just you wait."

Belén playfully rolled her eyes, jumping out of her chair to go hug her father. She showered him with kisses and laughed.

~ 0 ~

The next day about midnoon, Belén received a curious text - from a person she most definitely knew about. Seeing as Noah was still nowhere to be seen - since he was still working hard to do his bet - she took some time off to go meet with the texter.

The place was just outside the city, in some abandoned metal-looking shack. She stepped out of her car and looked around, mildly interested in the sight, as she shut the car door. "Not quite the usual place to meet up," she called out.

"To be fair, this isn't my city to roam," Oliver Queen remained on the front porch of the shack, ever-so-calm with his hands behind his back. "I wouldn't want someone making a connection to the newly arrived Starling City trio and the newly-sighted vigilante."

"I thought that was handled a long time ago," Belén chuckled and walked up the small, sidesteps to the porch.

"Can't be too careful with a new environment. Because, remember our three rules?"

Belén beamed at the knowledge she so perfectly knew. "Assess your environment-" she began listing with her fingers, "-assess your opponent, and never, ever solely rely on your powers to help you win."

"Excellent," Oliver praised her. "Haven't forgotten that, right?"

"Nope, I remember all that you've taught me, Oliver." She chuckled and threw her arms around him for a hug, already used to his stiffness and therefore the lack of a proper hug back. "It's so good to see you again."

"The circumstances are not as great as I'd want to them to be," Oliver responded and pulled away.

"So I hear," Belen crossed her arms and stepped back. "So, why am I here?" she looked around the desolate area.

"Because…" Oliver began when they both heard a nearing noise. Barry had zipped up to the side of the porch, giving (what Belén recognized as) an apologetic wave. "You're late," Oliver declared, not too pleased. "Barry, how can you have super-speed and still not be on time?"

"You kinda get used to that, honestly," Belén walked to stand beside Oliver, but apparently her statement didn't make things better.

"You and I are here on time and we still have to use cars!"

"I guess the super-tardiness kinda neutralizes the speed…" Barry fumbled around with a plausible excuse. "So, I guess you told Bells we're working together?"

Belén's eyes half-widened at the news she most certainly hadn't heard yet. " _No_ ," the sharp edginess in her tone made both men wince, "I have _not_ heard. When did this happen?"

Oliver cleared his throat while Barry slowly answered, "This morning. I, uh...meant to inform you…"

"So what happened?"

"Distracted…"

"Ah," Belén made a popping with her lips, "One can only imagine, having new friends in town, with what. Well, why the hell am I here, then?"

"So," Barry desperately needed a subject to introduce, "how do we catch Bivolo here?"

Second mistake.

"Who's Bivolo?" Belén looked between them, her rapid blinking indicating she was lost again.

"Metahuman responsible for the bank's near slaughter," Barry explained quietly.

"Thanks for informing me!" she leaned forwards to smack his arm. "Anything else!?"

"No?"

"Alright," Oliver cut in through the growing tension, "The reason you-" he pointed at Barry, "-are here is to train. And you-" he then pointed to Belén, "-are here to help."

"I'm not sure I want to anymore," Belén huffed, crossing her arms and looking away.

" _Belén_ ," Oliver said again, his tone sounding like a father's tone. She exhaled and dropped her arms to her sides, motioning him to go on. "So, I read your friend Iris' blog post on the Flash and the Azalea, and I visited all the crime scenes you fought at-"

"Don't you sleep?" Barry had to ask, mildly surprised of the efficiency Oliver portrayed.

Oliver ignored the question and simply went on. "Belén told me you took on a man named Leonard Snart-"

"We call him Captain Cold," Barry interrupted with a wide smile.

"We can talk about you giving your enemies silly code names later."

"You mean like over coffee with Deathstroke and the Huntress?"

Belén stifled her laugh as best as possible, but she still earned a sharp look from Oliver. She quickly cleared it off and forced herself to stay serious. She had learned rather quickly that Oliver was more serious than anyone over at STAR Labs - perhaps even more than Dr. Wells. It was a difficult matter for her in the beginning due to her inability to stop her running (motor) mouth sometimes.

"The point is that you engaged Snart on a commuter train, which he derailed," Oliver had gone off to say, but once again Barry missed the important point.

"Okay, there may have been some damage, but I got the job done, I was the hero."

Oliver tilted his head, not too surprised of the response. "There are three rules you always need to remember. Belén, tell Barry the rules."

"You assess your environment," she began with a light smile, despite Barry already growing annoyed seeing where the conversation was heading to, "And, I mean, it's something _you_ can do so much better than all of us with your speed. You definitely have the time," she laughed.

" _Belén_ ," Oliver calmly put her back on track by just calling her name. He too had grown accustomed of this manner. He would often instruct her and she, being too excited, would start rambling until someone - usually him - would remind her of her goal.

"Second, you assess your opponent," Belén sheepishly continued, being careful not to keep rambling. "And three, you never rely on your powers to win."

Barry's eyes flickered to Oliver, displaying much more irritation than with Belén. "When I came to you thinking about going out and helping people, you said I could be an inspiration."

Oliver acknowledged his words as he walked past him to where his motorcycle was parked. He plucked his bow and arrow from the back. "Living this life...well, it takes more than a mask. It takes discipline. And since you are probably as stubborn as I am…"

Barry looked at the bow and arrow with curiosity, missing Belén's alarmed face. She knew exactly where this was headed.

"What is that for?" Barry pointed, walking down the side steps.

Oliver stayed completely calm as he explained, "You're going to run over there, you're going to come back at me, and you're going to get hit with an arrow."

Barry laughed at the absurdity of the idea. "No, I'm not."

Oliver mocked Barry's laugh with his own. "Yes, you are."

Belén purposely cleared her throat loud enough to be heard. "Well, I'll just be over here..." she lowered herself down to sit on the edge of the porch, letting her shoes touch some of the dirt of the ground.

Barry couldn't believe this was actually going to happen, and much less that Belén wasn't even going to tell Oliver anything. "Okay, fine," he raised his hands, "I will humor you," he said to Oliver and walked by Belén, "And give Bells a show."

"Don't be so distracted, Barry," Belén did earnestly warn him, seeing him so carelessly taking up this challenge.

Barry ignored her warning and sped over to the small hill Oliver had indicated to. "Ready?" he shouted.

Oliver raised his bow and arrow, aiming it in Barry's direction. "Ready…"

Belén intently watched the process, and wasn't very surprised when Barry caught the shot arrow midway.

"Nice try," he smugly said to Oliver, holding the arrow mere inches from his face.

Belén was not remotely surprised when two more hidden sets of bows dispatched arrows. Barry cried out in pain when the two arrows embedded themselves on his back.

Sighing, Belén got up from her spot and walked towards them. "Assess your environment, Barry," she reminded.

"Wha- you _shot_ me!?" he was staring at Oliver in utter shock, not that it made much of a difference to Oliver.

"Assess your opponent," was all Oliver said back.

"Did you really have to shoot him though?" Belén tried getting Barry to stand still while Oliver came around. "Couldn't they have been like toy arrows?"

"I don't think Barry would have gotten the jist of the consequences…"

"Yeah, but…"

"Besides, I heard he heals fast."

Barry was more than irritated to see how blatantly ignored he was despite him standing between them. It was even more upsetting that Belén wasn't mad or anything - who just sits there and let's their friend be shot with arrows!?

His thoughts were interrupted by the rash pulling of the arrows from his back. He jerked forwards and nearly knocked Belén down.

"Round 2!" Oliver shouted and went to do just that.

"I'm sorry, Barry," Belén tried to help him but he shook her off, apparently more upset than she guessed. It wasn't like she had planned this. But, exchanging places with him, she probably would be a little irritated too.

~ 0 ~

Deciding to leave the "training session" earlier, Belén arrived to STAR Labs finding Caitlin, Cisco and Felicity in the cortex.

"It's so good to see you again, Belén," Felicity gave the ombre-blonde a tight hug. "Truth be told, I thought maybe you'd given up on your brother's case seeing as you haven't really given me a call or anything…"

Remembering the call from yesterday, and the fact she was supposed to be meeting them tonight, Belén forced a casual smile across her lips. "There's just been...a lot of things happening lately."

"I can imagine," Felicity gestured to the room. "The Azalea?" she nudged Belén till they both laughed. "Nice name."

"It wasn't my idea," Belén said, flushed.

"Still, you're out there kicking ass!"

"I'm nothing like the Canary though," Belén shook her head.

"Course not, you're 'the Azalea'," Felicity dramatically waved her hands in front of her. "So, what about Nina? Is she…"

"She still keeps up the whole 'I'm not using my powers-facade' but between you and me, I think she's beginning to use them more," Belén revealed. "Since the blackout incident in the city, she's been using more of them to get around and do some things."

"Good for her," Felicity nodded, crossing her arms in thought. "Maybe next time I'll be seeing a news report about the trio of vigilantes in Central City."

Belén wished the same, and by chance she saw Cisco coming out of a side room with the boomerang in hand. He walked over and placed it down on a holder, mumbling "stay" as it beeped and beeped.

"Felicity," Caitlin stood up from the desk with a tablet in hand, Belén being able to catch a glimpse of very long paragraphs from her spot. The blonde in question turned to Caitlin. "I was researching manners in which our metahuman might be hosing to perform his powers and I came across an interesting idea. Have you heard of color psychology?"

Felicity nodded her head. "The theory that changes in the color spectrum can affect emotion."

"I was thinking that if Bivolo uses color to induce the temporary psychosis, maybe we can use light and color to reverse it."

"Ooh, that isn't bad at all!"

Caitlin looked strangely relieved. "It is so nice to have another woman to talk to."

Belén released a highly offended noise. "Thanks Caitlin!"

Caitlin gasped. "I'm sorry! I just meant...you know, cos Felicity...you know...knows this...you know…"

The apology didn't make Belén feel any less offended. "No, I don't know, and I think even if you _were_ to finish that apology it wouldn't make things better." She knew Caitlin hadn't meant to offend her but it still stung to have it thrown in her face she wasn't like them. She thought about it everyday - how she would never be as smart nor scientific as them - and it was so hard repressing sometimes.

Thankfully, Dr. Wells had appeared asking for Felicity's company. As she left, things grew gradually (and very awkwardly) silent in the cortex. Caitlin gave up trying to give an adequate apology and Belén took a computer to continue her search for new topics. She heard her phone's ringtone from her bag, and ignoring the curious looks of Caitlin and Cisco (who had yet to say a word to her still) she dragged her bag from the corner of the desk and pulled out the phone.

Belén made a mistake assuming it was a simple social text after getting a glimpse of Iris' name on the screen. She skimmed the couple lined text but visibly froze at the last couple of words. Going back to the first word, she reread the entire text to fully grasp the situation.

"Anything wrong?" Caitlin had come by after seeing Belén's eyes practically glued to the phone screen.

"Um…" Belén looked up, clearly caught off guard by her lack of words. Thankfully, they both heard voices nearing and seconds later Felicity and Barry walked into the room.

"He actually did the thing with the arrows?" Felicity was gaping, while Barry still held that contemptuous look from earlier in training.

"Aha, and Belén was there, and did _nothing_ ," Barry made sure to say loudly as he walked past the desk.

Belén put her phone screen-down on the desk before responding to his accusation. "There wasn't much I could do except pull the arrows out."

"I can't believe he did that," Felicity mumbled but not as quietly as she had meant it to be.

"You knew he was going to shoot me!?" Barry exclaimed, mildly horrified.

"Whoa, it is practically impossible to tell when a joke is being made when it comes to him!"

Barry rolled his eyes and looked away. Belén shook her head and rose from her chair. "If I had known he was gonna do that I would have said something."

She was actually a little more annoyed that while Felicity clearly knew more of what would be happening in the training session, Barry hadn't said much about it. She, who had no idea what Oliver was going to do, got dirty looks and false accusations. Where was the logic!?

"I said I didn't know if it was going to be a joke or not," Felicity said, seeming offended.

"I still would have said something," Belén scowled. "You know the Arrow better than anyone so a little warning wouldn't have been bad."

"Belén, are you-"

Cisco's clearing of throat cut into the disagreement and made everyone look his way at the desk. "Hey, we just got a ping from the facial recognition software on Bivolo, aka, Prism."

Belén continued to scowl, but for a different reason. "Wait, since when do you have facial recognition software?"

"Happy Hanukkah," Felicity quietly said, waving lightly.

"I don't do Hanukkah," Belén muttered.

"Where can I find him?" Barry walked up to the desk.

"Traffic cameras just caught him entering a residence at 168 Jarvis."

"What about Oliver and I?" Belén had turned around, assuming Barry's plans but wanting to believe she was wrong.

"I don't need 'the Arrow'," Barry made way for his suit on display across the room. "And to be quite honest, I'd rather go without you this time."

"Are you kidding me!?" Belén's scowl was wiped off her face as a look of pain drew across her eyes.

"It's just a break, Belén," Barry said as a last statement before using his speed to grab off the suit and zip off.

"He _wasn't_ kidding," Belén gasped, looking between the empty mannequin and the others.

"Bells," Cisco cleared his throat again, partially hoping to be a distraction from what had just happened, "Your phone is ringing."

"Huh?" Belén realized he was right and returned to the desk, forgetting about Barry when he saw Iris' name again on her screen. She made the motion to the others she'd be coming back shortly then walked away to take the call.

She had a very interesting call with Iris which involved a lot of listening and listening to Iris' frantic explanations. She barely got in two words before Iris made it very clear they needed to see each other.

"But Iris it can't be that-"

"HURRY UP!" Iris practically yelled and hung up.

"Is it just 'be mean to Belén' day or what?" Belén muttered to herself and returned to the cortex room. Honestly, it was turning out to be such a bad day.

Things got no better when she paid attention to what was happening on Barry's side. He had come across Bivolo and apparently been "whammied" as he'd put it the day before. However on this occasion, he didn't seem to be showing the instant effects the other people had.

Caitlin had him sitting down for an optometry test. Rather boredly, Barry allowed her to conduct the exam while listening to the scolds of the others, specifically the still-hurt Belén.

"If you had just allowed me to come with you, maybe you wouldn't be in this situation now!" Belén angrily drummed her fingers on the corner of the desk.

"I told you that I'm fine," Barry wearily rolled his eyes.

"You said Bivolo whammied you," Caitlin reminded, able to understand Belén's irritation with him. Why risk yourself when you had people willingly trying to help you?

"No desire to go MMA on any of us?" Felicity cautiously asked him then.

"No," Barry was beginning to have trouble witholding his snaps, "Yeah, I mean, something weird happened with his eyes for a sec."

"Weird thing?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, everything went red."

Felicity glanced over to Caitlin, looking rather proud. "You were right."

Barry got up from his chair. "Okay, next thing you know, Bivolo was gone. Look, obviously his powers didn't work on me, so…"

"It was just incredibly stupid!" Belén exclaimed. "You were out there _alone_! What's the point of me training and and being here if I'm not out there helping you?"

Barry balled his fists on either side of him. "Because I didn't want you there, didn't you get it?"

"Because I let Oliver shoot you with arrows when I didn't even _know_ about them!? This is ridiculous! I feel so out of place with you sometimes, honestly, like I've got no role except being a bother!"

"It's not my fault you can't find your place!" Barry finally snapped, and though he didn't shout as loud as she had it was enough to freeze her. "You left for two months, what did you expect?"

"Well," she backtracked to the desk, hastily grabbing her bag, "I guess I'll just go back to CC Pictures...you know," with her eyes glued on Barry, one hand ransacked the desk for her possessions and dumped them into her bag, "where I'm sure my place is."

Violently she draped her bag's strap over her shoulder and stormed out of the place. Caitlin half-expected Barry to go after her, but when he didn't, she went after Belén herself

Felicity was making wide-eyed looks towards Barry, her arms crossed with a hand resting on her cheek. "Are you sure you're feeling fine?"

"Yes," Barry muttered, clearly wanting to push away any further talks of what just happened.

A couple minutes later, Caitlin returned looking put out. She hadn't caught up with Belén and much less spoken to her. "I'll just have to call her," she concluded to Felicity and went to grab her phone off the desk when she made another face. "Dammit, Barry, see what you cause? She was so mad she took my phone instead of hers!"

"I think I need to go too," Barry concluded as well and started out when Caitlin gasped and called him right back in a panicky tone.

"Caitlin, looking through people's phones isn't a good thing," Felicity lightly scolded her but Caitlin waved her off.

"Something's wrong," Caitlin's eyes were moving left to right as she read off the screen. "Barry?" she hissed for the return of the metahuman that had frozen by the threshold.

Barry rolled his eyes but slowly returned. "What?"

"I think you should really consider being nicer to Bells or else she might just not help you later," Caitlin handed Belén's phone over to Barry for him to see. "Iris sent her that text. You realize that her co-worker, Noah, working with Eddie for an anti-Flash article will really affect you? I'm talking anti-metahuman forces now."

Barry's anger was increasing and unfortunately, he didn't release it. He instead pocketed the phone and stalked off much in the same manner Belén had minutes earlier.

~ 0 ~

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Belén followed Noah all around the news office. She was getting looks from their other co-workers because of it but she refused to acknowledge it. Her patience was already far too thinned for her to care.

"This was part of the bet, Belén, I don't understand your anger," Noah stopped by his desk where he began preparing a pile of papers to put into a folder. "Is it because you're a sore loser?"

Belén was already angry (and admittedly quite hurt) from her going at Barry, so Noah's actions were the tip of the iceberg for her now. "This has nothing to do with winning or losing you idiot!" her voice rose in volume, attracting the eyes of Linda Park across the place. "This is you purposely trying to dirty someone's name because you don't understand!"

"I understand perfectly, and the Flash is something that's gotta go," Noah remained quite calm despite the look of fury in Belén's eyes. "Fortunately, I found someone who shares my views. Detective Eddie Thawne was more than willing to help me with this article."

"But you can't!" Belén nearly shrieked when he made way for the doors.

"Belén!" Linda had come by after no longer being able to just watch as a bystander. "What the hell are you doing?"

Noah took the distraction and scurried out of the building. Meanwhile, Belén exasperatedly turned to Linda to explain. "It's Noah! He's using my friend's boyfriend as a reference for our stupid bet."

"So?"

"Linda, I didn't think he would find someone! He can't do this!"

"Calm down, it's not like it's the end of the world. So, Noah's found someone, for all we know this might actually change our minds-"

"No," Belén gritted her teeth. Yes, she was still overly upset with Barry but it didn't cloud her judgement of his goodness. She couldn't let Noah tarnish his name, and much worse let Eddie use this as another (and powerful) reason to create the anti-meta task.

"Look, if he's found someone...we can't do much about it," Linda admitted with a quiet sigh.

"Belén?" Iris' voice made both women look over to the doors where Iris was coming in. She looked just as, or possibly more, exasperated as Belén. "Where have you been? I've been texting you nonstop! Eddie told me he's meeting with Noah tonight and we have to stop them."

"I got your text that's why I'm here," Belén gestured. "But Noah's gone and I couldn't stop him."

"I know, they're on their way to meet that's why I kept calling. Didn't you hear it?"

Belén walked over to her desk where her bag was and reached a hand inside for her phone. She spent a minute fumbling through her things before she pulled out Caitlin's cellphone.

"That's not your phone," Iris made a face.

"It's Cait's," Belén groaned, running a hand through her loose hair. "I must have grabbed it by accident."

"So why didn't _she_ pick up then!? This was urgent! I left voicemails!"

"It's a bit...busy right now," Belén wished at that moment so much she could tell Iris everything and have some words of comfort. No one knew Barry better than her, and Belén could really use some words to make things better.

Iris groaned of frustration, and with an urgent hand motioned for Belén to follow her out. With an apologetic smile for Linda, Belén scurried after Iris.

"What did you leave on the phone?" Belén hoped to dear God Iris hadn't mentioned any of this on it. But she aimed too high, and she knew it.

"Just what's going on," Iris led Belén towards her car.

"I drove here," Belén stopped on the sidewalk and pointed back to her own car not too far from them.

"Get in," Iris ordered sharply, and Belén winced at the tone and quickly went over to the passenger side.

As they drove down the city, though Belén was yet to hear where exactly they were heading to, Iris explained - using a tad of colorful words - in full detail how her boyfriend was working with Noah to capture the best of this anti-Flash idea they apparently shared. Belén admitted silently she was a little afraid each time Iris growled and slammed her hands on the wheel.

"Iris, if you could just keep your hands on the wheel...it would be nice…" Belén said quietly, hoping her friend would listen and calm down even just a little.

"I don't think I've ever been this mad at him!" Iris seemed to ignore Belén's request but her hands no longer raised off the wheel. "I ask him to believe in the Flash and this is what he does instead?"

"Eddie just...thinks he's doing the best thing," Belén sighed, not as angry with the detective as she was with Noah. Noah was treating this as a bet, part of something he wanted to win. On some level, she could see Eddie thinking like a policeman would: the unknown was dangerous. Belén dared to believe that if Eddie knew who the Flash really was he would leave this ridiculous idea behind of wanting to lock him away.

"What about Noah?" Iris' sharp voice brought Belén back to the present. "What does he want exactly?"

"Same as Eddie, more or less. He thinks the Flash is a danger, along with the rest of the others with powers. He wants to run an article about this but I wouldn't agree. So we made a bet. If he could find someone credible as a reference then the article goes."

"And so he found Eddie," Iris rolled her eyes, her fingers gripping tightly the wheel. "Well, this can't go on."

"No, it can't," agreed Belén. She pulled out Caitlin's phone. "I need to get my phone back."

"Forget it," Iris smirked suddenly, briefly sparing Belén a glance when she said, "Just have Barry bring it over later."

"Don't start again, not right now," Belén pleaded and, because she really just wanted to avoid any teasing, she dumped the cellphone into her bag. "We've gotta find Noah and Eddie and put a stop to this. Where are they anyways?"

"If you had your phone you would've met me there," Iris made a little 'tsk' sound. "They're going to meet at some bar later but we're gonna get there and crash it."

~ 0 ~

" _You have to do something, Belén! He's your co-worker! Look" - Iris sighed - "He's your partner and my boyfriend is in it so it's up to us to stop them. I heard Eddie say he's gonna meet Noah at the Cyrus bar tonight at seven. So we gotta get there quick. Call me back!"_

Barry clicked the 'end' button to Iris' voice mail and without further thought about it, threw the phone across the room. It broke but Barry wasn't there to witness it anymore. He had sped out of his lab after snatching his red suit from the locker inside.

If people were so eager to see him, then he would go to them himself.

~ 0 ~

Felicity paced back and forth with her cellphone pressed to her ear as she listened to Oliver's description of his second training session with Barry. "Okay, I'll call you back later," Felicity hung up and turned to the others in the room. "That was the Arrow. He says Barry is acting strangely."

"I think he passed that," Cisco mumbled under his breath, having heard what happened earlier between Barry and Belén. He wasn't remotely happy. Dr. Wells, who was still in the dark, briefly looked at Cisco before asking Felicity for a further explanation.

However, it was not Felicity to answer as Joe came in. "He's been whammied," he declared. "He was acting angry back at the precinct. It was scary. And his eyes...they glowed."

"It's possible that his body is fighting off the effect," Caitlin theorized then. "So, it's hitting him slower."

Dr. Wells considered this idea and voiced a concern. "When it comes to rage, that is not a good thing. The longer you can suppress your emotions...the bigger the explosion."

"Considering what he can do, how do even stop him?" Joe asked.

"A cold gun would come in real handy right now," Cisco muttered and earned a look from Joe. "Hey, I'm only saying."

"None of us can stop Barry," Wells said the obvious and glanced at Felicity. "Fortunately, Felicity knows someone who can. I think you better call back Oliver Queen. We're gonna need the Arrow's help."

Felicity gaped with a mouth half opened while Wells simply smiled, apparently no explanation was needed as to how he figured out who the Arrow was.

"Maybe call Belén too," Caitlin added quietly to Cisco who nodded in agreement. "...and Nina just in case."

~ 0 ~

"So I'm assuming we have a better plan besides just shouting at them?" Belén asked Iris as they got out of Iris' car. They had parked a short distance from the bar to get Eddie and Noah.

"Dunno, but I'm sure it'll come up in the moment," Iris absently replied as she slammed the door, her eyes examining the entrance of the bar.

Belén closed the door on her side but almost immediately saw Caitlin's phone lighting up as a call entered.

"There they are!" Iris gasped and started speed walking towards the bar.

"No, Iris, come back!" Belén shouted for her and only stopped Iris from walking towards the bar. "My cellphone's ringing!"

"It's not your phone!"

"But it's Cisco - I can see his name! It's probably important!"

"Bells," Iris whined her name like a child, "They're coming!"

"Just give me the car keys, Iris!"

Iris stuck a hand inside her pocket and tossed over the keys. She then ran to catch Eddie and Noah before they entered the bar. Belén opened up the car and answered the phone that hadn't stopped ringing.

"Cisco? Hey! Listen, I'm gonna need my phone-"

Cisco stopped her without paying attention to any of her words. He explained the situation with Barry and told her to get over fast in order to help Oliver.

"I can't, Cisco, I'm with Iris and I can't just leave out of the blue - not right now at least," Belén sighed and glanced ahead to see Iris having a heated discussion with Eddie and Noah just outside the bar. "Wait," - she froze - "who has my phone right now?"

"That's not important," Cisco groaned in exasperation.

"No, I think it might just be," Belén shut the car door and locked it again. "Quick, Cisco, _where_ is my phone!?"

Cisco groaned again but thankfully asked Caitlin in the background. Belén anxiously waited for the answer she was already beginning to assume.

"Cait says Barry kept it earlier," Cisco finally came back on the line.

"Oh no," Belén closed her eyes momentarily. "Iris left a ton of messages and voicemails about Eddie and Noah working together for an anti-Flash thing. If he's heard them…"

There was a loud screech up ahead followed by Iris' scream. Belén almost didn't want to open her eyes again then. When she finally forced herself to, she wasn't so shocked to find Eddie and Noah sprawled on the roadside while a furious Barry - as the Flash - stood over them.

"I think I found him," Belén said to Cisco. "Hurry up! We're at the Cyrus bar!" She put the phone away and hurried towards the scene.

Eddie had tried shooting but the bullets either missed or were dodged. Even Noah had attempted a couple punches but Barry was far too quick for both of them put together. He easily knocked them down again.

"HEY!" Belén called, momentarily staying near Iris. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Everything's just fine…" Barry said, and though he kept his back to her Belén knew he was gritting teeth like he was about to fight.

"You are nowhere near fine," this time it was Iris who spoke up, and apparently it served no better.

"How would you know?" Barry scoffed. "Because you _write_ about me? You don't know me! You don't know who I am. You never did."

"H-HEY!" Belén, abruptly, ran towards him the moment she saw him going towards Eddie and Noah again. Both of them were sporting cuts and what she was sure would later become bruises from being thrown from a good distance. "HEY!" she had gotten in front of Barry and pushed him back only slightly.

"Move!" he angrily ordered her, once again coming forwards in a sort of menacing way. "Or-"

"What are you gonna do? Hurt me too?" she challenged, and for a split moment she contemplated how smart it was to taunt him in a state like this.

"Belén!" even Iris had gotten scared from such a different Flash she was meeting.

"C'mon then, I'm waiting," Belén gulped but didn't budge from her spot. She had a stare down with Barry and it was genuinely fear-worthy as she looked into his unusual dark eyes.

Suddenly, an arrow was shot from the side with a piece of rope attached to it. Barry found himself tied up for a minute.

"Run!" Oliver, as the Arrow, ordered the other four in the scene.

Neither Eddie nor Noah wasted time and got up to run with Iris. Noah tried getting Belén on the way but she resisted.

"What the hell Belén?" Noah let her go and gave her an incredulous look.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Belén turned around in Oliver's and Barry's direction, intending on helping when Eddie returned and, along with Noah, forced her to come with them. "Let go of me! Let go! STOP IT!"

In the end, Noah put an arm around her neck and performed a neck-hold that forced her unconscious. Now with the limp body of hers, he carried her towards Iris' car that had been closest.

Oliver waited until the others were truly gone before speaking to Barry. However, Barry had chosen to drag Oliver behind as retaliation. He stopped at an alley and Oliver landed roughly on the ground, forced to let go of the rope that'd been around Barry.

He shot another arrow and Barry swiftly dodged it. "You missed it," Barry smirked, but Oliver remained untroubled.

"No!" Oliver set lose another arrow that struck Barry from behind. "2000 milligrams of horse tranquilizer should be hitting you any time now."

Barry yanked the arrow from him and growled, wearing unbearable anger within. He vibrated entirely, forcing the effects of the tranquilizer to wear off within seconds.

Seeing this, Oliver shot an arrow towards one of the nearby buildings and zoomed up.

Barry watched him go and called up. "Where you going? We're not done!" He sped upside the building until he reached the rooftop where Oliver's hook had placed itself. He toll hold of it just as Oliver reached him. "Is that all you got?"

Seeing his options, Oliver chose to let go of the hook before Barry could detach it himself. Barry watched him fall but halfway down something white zoomed down and snatched Oliver by the arms. In a wobbling flight, Nina managed to keep a hold on Oliver till they reached the ground.

Barry sped down the building and came to a stop across them. Nina made sure Oliver was fine before facing Barry.

"I had to come out of hiding because of you," she said, meaning to sound annoyed.

"Quit acting like you don't like being out here!" Barry snapped, curling his hands into fists. "We all know it's just an act anyways!"

Nina raised her eyebrows, while a little surprised it didn't anger her. She understood perfectly the situation and was prepared to listen to Barry's insults and remarks. "You need to calm down!" she blasted him with a sphere of powerful wind.

As soon as he got up from the blow, Oliver struck him with an arrow. Barry swiveled and grasped the arrow mere inches from his shoulder.

"Fool me once," he smirked at them both.

"Not quite," Nina revealed a hidden arrow and used her wind to give it a powerful blow.

Barry screamed when the arrow dug into his thigh. "Ah... ah... ah" With a trembling hand of pain, he pulled it out.

Meanwhile, Oliver had grabbed him from the side and with a good neck-hold held him back. "I still believe in you, Barry."

"Get off it!" Barry struggled against him but the last arrow that struck him made it difficult to move on both feet.

"They're coming!" Nina shouted at Oliver in warning then shot up into the air.

Joe and Wells had brought out the STAR Labs van to the scene to finish things off. Joe swiveled the car till it was facing to the left. Wells used a remote to automatically open up the side door and revealed a large, black machine inside. With another press of a button, the machine busted into a rainbow color fest. Oliver forced Barry to look into the lights as they flickered colors. It overwhelmed Barry for a moment and so Oliver let go, but was still cautious about the reaction. The colors were supposed to reverse the effect of the metahuman's but one could never be too sure.

Nina hovered a couple feet from the ground, also prepared to continue fighting. Barry shook his head frantically, like trying to throw out something.

"Barry, you okay?" Oliver took one step closer.

Barry gave a light groan and turned to him. "Oh, this is going to be a special kind of hangover," he shakily laughed, but it was the laugh that everyone knew belonged only to the real, normal Barry.

~ 0 ~

Teaming up and working together, except for Belén, the team captured Bivolo and put him in the pipeline along with the other metahumans.

As Cisco shut the pipeline doors, Bivolo warned them if what they would be dying of as soon as he got out. "Blah, blah, blah, 'no prison can hold me'. I heard it all before, pal. Adios, Prism." Cisco rolled his eyes and walked off with Nina and Caitlin.

"I liked "Rainbow Raider," Caitlin shared excitedly.

"Okay, you don't get to pick the names," Cisco shut her down but silently agreed it was a good name. "So, Nina, you think a proper suit is in order now?"

Nina laughed wholeheartedly. "This was a once in a lifetime thing…"

"That's what you said last time…" Cisco followed after her, his pleads for the new suit echoing as Oliver and Barry walked in seconds after.

"I have a prison like this," Oliver was remarking quietly, "Mine's on a nearly inhospitable island in the north China Sea, but this works too."

~ 0 ~

Much later in the next day, Belén and Noah worked quietly over a Jitters' table covered with papers and a laptop on Noah's side. As Noah - who was now sporting a couple bruises on his cheeks and arms - pointed to several circled sentences over a paper, Belén's eyes failed to pay attention. It wasn't until Iris walked over with a mug of coffee for Belén that she finally said something.

"Thanks, Iris," Belén helped her friend settle her mug onto the table.

At that moment, Eddie walked in - also in a similar state as Noah only he had actually needed stitches near his hairline. He came up to their table and slightly breathlessly announced. "Captain Singh approved the task force." Belén's bit her lip anxiously while the others looked more or less relieved. Eddie glanced over to Iris. "You wanted me to believe The Flash was real. Now I do. I believe he's dangerous, and I am going to take him in. How do you feel about that?"

Iris was visibly conflicted for a moment but in the end she gave an agreeing nod and led him towards the counter to have a more private word with him.

"You don't look so look relieved," Noah remarked almost instantly.

Belén ignored the rather aggressive tone in his voice because she understood how things must feel from _his_ perspective. "Look, everyone's got their opinion-" she began, but unlike her Noah was not so willing to understand her.

"Opinions? Belén, that man _attacked_ us! Look what he did to me!" he gestured to his battered face. "How are you going to sit there and defend him after last night?"

Belén sighed and seized her mug from the table to drink and force herself not to snap back at him. Her eyes drifted away from him, flat out ignoring Noah's rant. She almost choked on her coffee when she saw Barry coming in.

"Belén! Are you even listening!?" Noah was staring at her in contempt.

Belén snapped her eyes back on her co-worker. "Don't yell at me, Noah," she said, surprisingly calm. "You have your opinions and I have mine. Respect them."

Noah gave her a look as if she was betraying him or something. He only seemed to calm (and only slightly) when Barry approached them.

"Bells, can we, uh...talk?" Barry nervously asked of Belén, but if you asked her he seemed actually more _afraid_.

Unconsciously gripping the handle of her coffee mug, Belén gave a nod. She looked over to Noah to excuse herself but Noah was far too focused on their disagreement to care.

"I need an espresso," he muttered and got out of his seat.

Barry watched after him a minute. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, in what fits," Belén put her mug down while Barry took Noah's seat across her. Barry looked at the papers on the table and raised his eyebrows at the outstanding, circled sentences. "I'm sorry," Belén said guiltily, sighing as Barry picked up one of the papers. "After last night, well...they're running the article against you."

Barry couldn't say he was surprised, nor act like it. He lowered the paper to the table and spared a glance at the opened laptop beside him. When Belén saw that she nearly lunged over the table and slammed it shut, wincing herself by the force she used.

"It's going against my wishes," she added, afraid. "I have to help out, unfortunately."

"Like I said before, I'd take the bad review instead of you losing your job. Though, in this case, I think I have it well deserved."

"No!" Belén exclaimed. "You don't, and don't you dare disagree with me. What happened last night...that...that wasn't _you_ …"

"But see, that's the thing, part of me was there," Barry sighed, while Belén raised an eyebrow. "I was already upset over Eddie trying to build this task force against me, and that Noah was trying to run a bad article on me. I was mad at them. What Bivolo did was just push me to act."

"No, Barry, that's not-"

"And by doing that, I nearly harmed _you,_ " And then Barry did something Belén wasn't expecting, he had taken her hands from across the table. "In my sane mind I would _never_ hurt you."

A light smile spread across Belén's lips, and as she flushed a bright red she tilted her head. "You act like I wouldn't believe you. Rest assure, Barry Allen, I believe you 100%."

The small chuckle that escaped her lips relaxed Barry so much more than he expected. He observed her for a minute, which then turned more into a long stare. It was weird, he thought, there was something different about her suddenly. Her long, wavy blonde hair tips were falling to her side with her tilted head and her smile seemed everlasting. Her hands, soft and warm, made it difficult to want to pull his own away.

"Did you do something different today?" Barry asked quietly, his eyes flickering from one feature of hers to another.

Belén's smile widened of amusement, and with her red face she replied back, "No, I don't think so. It's just me. Why?"

"No...reason…" Barry absently said, feeling rather strange then. There was something different, he knew it. She just...looked different, a _good_ different. Without a proper answer of his own, he smiled at her; their hands were still in each other's.

From across the place, by the counter, Iris had given Noah his espresso and scoffed at the sight of her two friends. "Can you believe them? And they actually have the nerve to deny to me they're together."

"Don't you start," Eddie rubbed his temple, agitated of the same story over and over. He thanked his luck when he saw Felicity and Oliver walking in. Although he didn't know them personally, he heard all about them from Iris.

"Oliver, Felicity," Belén had seen them after Eddie and abruptly pulled her hands from Barry's as the two walked over. "Are you guys heading home already?"

"Yeah," Felicity said while both nodded.

"I'm not happy you didn't let me help," Belén looked at Oliver mildly crossed about last night.

"If you did help you would have exposed yourself to your friends," Oliver reminded and nodded over to Iris who was coming over.

"Hey!" Iris greeted cheerfully.

"Hey," Felicity greeted back, "We were hoping you could hook us up for some Javas? We're on our way home."

"Definitely," Iris motioned to be followed.

"Iris, hold on," Belén got up as well, taking her mug with her. "You think you can reheat this for me? It got cold…"

"I wonder why," Iris sent her and Barry a wink.

"Iris do it without a word or I'm not leaving you a tip!" Belén exclaimed but only made Iris laugh.

"What's she going on about?" Felicity asked her as they followed Iris.

"Nothing," mumbled Belén sourly.

Oliver took over Belén's seat and immediately was given yet another apology from Barry. With a friendly smile, he assured Barry everything was just fine. "You can always talk to me."

"Yeah. Thank you," Barry said, gratefully, "And you were right, I still have... A lot to learn. I'm sure Bells can give me a rundown on those three important rules," he chuckled, but Oliver did not.

"About that," he began in a much more quiet and grim tone, "There's one more thing...and you're not going to like it."

Barry detected this wouldn't end well but he still tried humoring. "Does it involve you shooting me in the back?"

"No. No - the heart," Oliver cleared his throat and shifted in his chair so that he could discreetly motion to Belén at the counter who was having a chat with Felicity while waiting for her coffee. "That's not going to work out for you. Don't even try, for both of your sakes. Guys like us don't get the girl."

For a minute, Barry looked stunned at the insinuation. But then, he furrowed his brow as if annoyed. "That's a double standard."

"Yes," Oliver agreed, giving a slight nod. "It is. A woman like her can handle being two people - Azalea, and Belén - but when the time comes she'll probably find someone who's...normal, and because she'll love him she'll give up the Azalea. You can't."

"I don't...I don't even…" Barry sputtered, almost indignant of the accusation. "...there's _nothing_ …"

"I'm not a scientist like you are, but I've got eyes...and I saw you just before coming in here."

At that, Barry awkwardly coughed and looked to the side. Thankfully, before Oliver could continue, Felicity returned with two drinks in hand.

"You ready?" she cheerfully asked Oliver, handing him his cup.

"Mhm," Oliver got up from the chair.

"Barry, I forgot to ask," Belén was striding over with her new mug in hand, "Do you still have my phone?"

Barry's eyebrows rose up and flushed, seeming embarrassed. "Actually…" he reached inside his jacket's pocket and pulled out a cellphone.

Belén took it and turned it over, frowning. "This isn't my phone…"

"No, it's not," he agreed. "I, um, may...have, um...thrown it to a wall…"

"You threw my phone?" she asked softly.

"I was under the effect," he reminded her, "And, I got angry...and I threw it...and then it broke…"

"You broke my phone…"

"I got you a new one, and I also managed to retrieve your pictures and your numbers - it's all there, I promise!"

Belén inspected her new cellphone for a minute in silence before beaming. "Sweet! I get a new phone!"

"There was one thing I wanted to discuss about that, though," Barry exchanged a look with Felicity and Oliver, apparently all three in the know.

"Like?" Belén put her mug down on the table and started going through the new phone and its features.

"Who were you planning on meeting last night on your own?"

The question made her freeze.

"And don't say it was a friend because we retrieved the texts of this location and it's not a friendly one," Felicity added.

"Belén," Oliver went with his stern voice, making her wince. "What were my rules about strange calls from people?"

"Always share with the others?"

"Well?"

"The guy had something to do with my brother alright?" Belén sighed, now putting down her phone. "I'm desparate because we've got nothing."

"How could you decide to go meet with this guy without telling us?" Barry frowned. "He could've been setting a trap for you."

"And so what? I can defend myself, Barry. He doesn't know that I have powers, that I can easily poison him to death."

"It doesn't matter," Barry kept calm for her sake. "You have to realize this was incredibly dangerous. How about we work on figuring out who that guy was together? Hmm? We can come up with a better, safer plan together."

"Yeah, and anything you need, you know I'm just a call away," Felicity gave her a side hug.

Belén didn't want to argue over something she knew she was wrong with. When it was settled, Felicity and Oliver finally made their departure as they planned on.

As she watched them leave, Belén felt her heart ping with guilt. Her face must have expressed the clear emotion because in a second Barry was asking her what was wrong.

"I just…" Belén glanced back a thte counter to see where Noah was. She didn't want anyone hearing because she already felt bad enough. "...please, please don't laugh…"

"I wouldn't," Barry said, looking at her earnestly.

"Do you know how we argued yesterday?" she remained standing, nervously tapping her fingers over the edge of the table. "Well, part of my anger...was sort of out of jealousy…"

"J-jealousy?" Suddenly, all of Oliver's words were racing through Barry's mind.

"Yeah," Belén nodded, her fingers now fiercely drumming. "See, cos…" she sighed and reverted back to her face-paced rambling, "...I really, really admire Felicity Smoak because she's helped me in so many ways but when she came over the first time - before I knew her - I was jealous because she knew your secret and she got along with Cait and Cisco. And now that she came back today all of those feelings kinda came back and reminded me that no matter how much I try I won't ever understand a word that comes out of Caitlin or Cisco or Dr. Wells, and especially you," she gestured with a weak hand at Barry. "I'm not smart, I'm just a journalist. You were right, I can't find my place and I don't think I ever will and it makes me feel awful because I know Felicity doesn't actually do anything - she's a total sweetheart and I love her to bits, but…" Belén hadn't realized she was beginning to sniff with tears in her eyes, "...I won't ever be like her."

There was a long silence between the two. Then, Barry got up and placed a hand over one of hers. "Good," he surprised her with that, but before she said a word he added, "Felicity is great, amazing even, but you shouldn't try to be like her. The world doesn't need another Felicity. You are not a scientist, you are a wonderful writer that absolutely no one can measure up to. And, maybe you don't understand everything we talk about at STAR Labs, but that's because it wasn't your passion. You talk to me about journalism and I guarantee you I will not understand half of it. But it doesn't matter because there's you that does. The world needs someone like you, Bells," he leaned over to her ear and whispered, "Azalea."

He pulled away with a smirk across his lips, and while that was partially the reason Belén was blushing again there was something else about his words that hit home.

 _The world needs a woman like you, Belén_ _and I know that one day someone special will see this too._ "

Belén wished her father hadn't told her this, because now it was all that ran through her mind as she looked at Barry.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yeah this was one of my favorite chapters to write! And also...yeah...I may have planted a seed for season 3 in this chapter ;). Since I couldn't write Belén in for that fight with Arrow & Flash I decided to bring in Nina who definitely needs to keep using her powers!

 **For the Review:**

Thanks so much! Aww, lol then they could be friends? That would be so cool xD. Well I hope you liked this chapter then! Let me know what you thought!

* * *

As always, thanks for reading and hope you guys leave a comment or a thought! Until next time! :)


	12. Not Alone

Plasticine rubbed her face twice before dropping it and facing the newest member of their small team. Even behind her mask, the young man could see her utter frustration with his lack of progress. It wasn't his fault, he was sure.

"Your sister is far too...into this whole anti-metahuman team," his hands waved in the air to show that he too was frustrated. "You should have heard her when I suggested we write that article against the Flash and the Azalea - she nearly had my head!"

Plasticine narrowed her eyes on him. "What did you expect? You were suggesting she bash herself in this article! _Idiot_! Is that really the best you could come up with, Noah?"

Noah Gilan growled and tore the frost-made mask around his eyes. "It's easy for you to say considering you barely even talk to her! I have to constantly come up with ideas to get Belén to willingly come to this team."

Plasticine gently removed her own mask and gave him a sharp look. "You're creative. It's why I liked you enough to put you near my sister. I thought you two would click. Clearly, I was wrong."

Noah turned and walked away from her. He leaned against the desk that served as Rayan's workspace in the warehouse. "Maybe it's time to just...tell her everything."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, sit her down and explain to her why we're here and why she should come. Your sister likes things direct and maybe that's what we should have done in the first place."

"You can't-"

"We've run out of ideas and if you can't come up with anything better then I'm following this," Noah shrugged, his blue leather making the only noise in the small office. "I'm gonna talk to her."

"But not as 'Noah', right?" Plasticine raised an eyebrow. "If she disagrees then she can't know you're her co-worker who-"

Noah raised a hand to stop her. "No, don't worry. I know how to take my precautions. She won't be talking to Noah. _Azul_ will be the one speaking," he promised with a clean smirk on his face.

~ 0 ~

"Okay Dad," Belén beamed after setting down the last box of Christmas decorations on the dining table. David Palayta was sitting at the end of the table, once again engulfed in his work. "Dad!" Belén called again, stomping her foot for attention. "I got them all out," she gestured to the other boxes she had taken out from the garage that were now spread around the living room. "Can we start now?"

David looked up with an amused little smile. He knew this was Belén's favorite time of the year and even though he didn't quite feel the same about the holiday, he still took part in it for his daughter.

Belén rolled her eyes and straightened up. "You keep saying that."

"Have I?" David returned to his work on his laptop.

"Yes! That's why I took out the boxes myself," Belén crossed her arms glumly, mumbling, "I thought you'd see they were heavy and help me."

David chuckled. "I brought in the tree, no?"

Belén glanced back into the living room where the Christmas tree was neatly planted in its usual corner, albeit without decorations. "Yeah, but...that was this morning. You said you were gonna help."

David took a pause from his work to look up at his daughter again. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. There's just a lot of work down at Mercury Labs lately and as lead doctor on this I need to make sure everything is going according to the schedule."

"What's your secret work anyways?" Belén took to rummaging through the box on the table, pulling out broken baubles.

"Oh, nothing…"

"Yeah, right," Belén scoffed and pulled out a plastic candy cane. "If that were true you'd be helping me set up…"

David playfully rolled his eyes then. "Listen, Bells, as soon as I'm done with this I will come and help." Belén lowered the plastic candy cane and gave her father an odd look. "What?" David asked, confused.

"You just called me 'Bells'," Belén put down the candy cane and smiled. "You never call me that. It's either 'Belén' or - when you're mad or serious - 'Anna-Belén'."

"Well, I hear your new friends calling you that," David shrugged. "It's kind of nice."

"Cisco is pretty good with nicknames," Belén commented and grabbed the broken baubles she'd taken out and headed for the trash in the kitchen. "That's why I wanted to get him a good Christmas present," she returned empty-handed and took a seat beside her father. "I don't really have guy friends and this year I met some really good guys - _friends_ ," she amended after her father gave her a look. "Dad," she laughed, "I'm allowed to have friends that happen to be guys."

"I suppose…" her father muttered quite earnestly as he typed.

"C'mon," she laughed again and rested her arms over the table, clasping her hands together. "I really want to get Cisco and Barry good presents but I have zero ideas on what that entails."

"Something they like, perhaps?"

"Gee, Dad, because I hadn't thought about that yet!" Belén took a long sigh. "They're both, in technical terms, scientists and, well...I've got zero ideas."

"It's not that hard unless you make it hard," David gave her a matter-of-factl look. "Give them something they can use for their jobs."

"Yeah but I don't want to go for, like, paper weights...it has to be good. They've been good to me so it's only fair."

"Quite a lot of thought you're putting into this don't you think?"

"Don't look at me like that," Belén quickly wagged a finger. "It's because they're guys, I've explained this. I already know what to give Caitlin and Iris - I get them. Oh my God," she suddenly blinked as if something had stricken her, "You're gonna give me paper weights aren't you?" David bellowed a laugh but Belén remained quite serious. "You are _so_ gonna give me paper weights, aren't you!?"

David patted one of her hands and smiled. "I haven't picked out anything, don't you worry. But I might go for a paperweight - you like pink, right?"

"Dad!" Belén exclaimed miserably while he laughed and returned to his work.

~ 0 ~

"Merry Christmas, Linda," Belén put down a neatly wrapped lavender box on Linda Park's desk. "Do not open right now," she added as a late warning when she saw Linda reaching for the present.

Linda rolled her eyes and dug underneath her desk to pull out a small, baby-blue wrapped present. "Same goes to you," she warned and laughed.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done for me this year," Belén smiled softly. "Don't think I've forgotten."

"Belén?" Noah walked up to the two wearing a tight smile across his lips. Belén, out of sheer politeness, turned to him.

"Yes?" her voice was strangely coated with forced kindness.

Noah, seeing he was still not on her good list since the publishing of the anti-Flash article, sighed. "I just wanted to say Merry Christmas," he had been holding a cylindrical-shaped present in an arm and now held it to Belén.

"O-oh," Belén, surprised, blinked rapidly. "You...got me a present?"

"Well, kind of a brief one, you know," Noah shrugged. "I know we don't know each other very well, and, well...with our disagreements…it's just something small, you know." Belén exchanged looks with Linda and took the present. "You can open it now," Noah said almost immediately. "Least, I would so it wouldn't wither."

"Wither?" Belén repeated in confusion. Noah simply gestured her to open it herself. She carefully ripped off the wrapping paper and revealed a glass cylinder case over a bright, pink flower inside. "An Azalea…" Belén's eyebrows raised, momentarily feeling nervous. Could it mean Noah figured out who she was!?

"Yeah, I, um, I remembered you talking about them and I figured it would be the start of my apologies," Noah smiled.

"It's beautiful, thank you," Belén then felt guilty because she hadn't even thought about a present for Noah. After the bet they'd made their relationship had a strain.

Noah smiled bigger and glanced to Linda. "How do you feel about chocolates?"

Linda laughed. "Talk to me when you've got peppermint patties."

"Will do," Noah shot her a wink then took off.

Belén gazed at her pretty flower for another minute before Linda spoke again. "Bells, you okay?"

"Yeah," Belén gave a small nod. "I guess I should just lighten up with him already."

"That would be nice," Linda agreed then her eyes flickered to the entrance doors. "Being picked up?"

"Hmm?" Belén followed her gaze and beamed when she saw Barry coming for them. "Hey!" she greeted him.

"Hey, I was going to S.T.A.R Labs, thought you wanted to come by…?" he asked with a wide smile, practically assuming she would say…

"Of course! Let me just go get my bag," Belén put down her Azalea and wagged a finger at Linda. "Don't touch."

"Where did you get that from?" Barry pointed at when Belén walked away.

"Noah gave it to me," she shrugged and hurried off for real then.

"Noah," Barry mouthed with a sudden dislike that even he was surprised for a moment. He sobered when he noticed Linda's smirk.

"Afternoon, Barry," she greeted as if he had only just gotten there.

"Linda," he coughed awkwardly, knowing he'd been caught.

"So, where's my present?" she asked sarcastically and laughed while Barry stood still quite awkwardly.

"Look, about that…" he moved closer, his voice lowering so that only she would hear him. "I'm having a little trouble coming up with a present for Bells and I remembered her saying something about being an aerial dancer at one point-"

"The _best_ ," Linda interrupted him to say, apparently deeming it important for him to know.

"Wait, you saw her?" Barry blinked and leaned in closer. "So it's true then? She was actually a...a…?"

"Aerial dancer," Linda finished for him and nodded her head. "And yes, she was. I went to a couple of her shows and she was one of the best. My favorite one was the 1920s one she did. I was so sad when she told me her mom made her quit so she could go into journalism."

"Great!" Barry exclaimed and soon realized how that sounded and quickly shook his head. "I meant - not as in great that she quit, but…"

"I get it, Barry. So, what did you have in mind?"

"I don't know much about that stuff but I know the city does play host to dance clubs around. Who's to say I can't find one and, I don't know, make a present out of it."

"Going quite big aren't we?" Linda mused, raising her eyebrows suspiciously.

"I just wanted to show her how grateful I am with her," Barry said briefly. He couldn't tell her how happy he was to have another metahuman beside him who understood him when others couldn't.

"Well," Linda drummed her fingers on her desk, "I'd be thankful too if some pretty girl took care of me while I was in a coma."

"Will you help me or not?" Barry asked flatly, ignoring his warm face.

Linda smiled at him. "I would love to, but I really don't know much either. But do you know who you can ask help from?"

"Who?"

"Belén's father. He always supported Bells in her dance routines. I'm sure he would love to give you a tip."

"Right," Barry considered the idea and felt his face get warmer. How would it look if he dropped by Mercury Labs to ask David Palayta if he could help with a gift for his daughter? Even he understood what that could imply.

~ 0 ~

Barry was pulling out wrapped up presents for Caitlin, Cisco and Dr. Wells in the cortex. Caitlin "awed" as she took hers into her hands while Cisco shook his to guess what was inside.

"Merry Christmas. Just a small token of my gratitude…" Barry handed the last present to Dr. Wells. "For everything you guys have done for me this year."

"I think I speak on behalf of my colleagues when I say you've been a gift for us, Barry," Wells praised, Cisco and Caitlin agreeing with nods.

Belén chose to come into the room with several cups in her hands which she placed down the desk. "Oh, we're not passing out gifts right now are we?" she took notice of the presents around. "Because I haven't actually gone out present shopping…"

"It's alright, me neither," Caitlin admitted with a made face.

"And I'm not finished yet either," Barry made sure to clarify afterwards. "So, um...don't think...don't think you're not getting one…"

"I'll be waiting on my toes then," she playfully winked. "In the meantime, where's the eggnog you promised?" she leaned forwards, trying to peer into the bag Barry had kept his gifts in.

"There's eggnog?" Cisco quickly raised his eyebrows. "Show me the eggnog."

Belén laughed as Barry dug into the bag and pulled out a red thermos from it. "This is compliments of Iris... Grandma Esther's famous eggnog."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Cisco exclaimed and motioned Belén to start passing out the cups.

"Maybe later for me," Wells broke through the happy moments. "Wouldn't want to drink and drive."

And in a rather somberly mood, he left the room.

"Did I say something wrong?" Barry whispered cautiously.

"No, man," Cisco shook his head. "He, um... this used to be his favorite time of year, but the accident happened before Christmas, so…"

"It ruined the holidays," Belén guessed quickly and took a deep sigh. "I can understand that. My parents divorced around this time and suddenly Christmas is a taboo for everyone. I'm surprised sometimes my dad let's me decorate and celebrate like nothing."

"I'm gonna go get him a present. Maybe that'll cheer him up," Caitlin resolved and added another 'thank you' to Barry before leaving.

"I doubt it honestly," Belén said glumly, raising her filled mug of eggnog to her lips.

"You're not gonna go all Grinch on us, right?" Cisco curiously wondered as Belén drank from her cup.

"It's been eight years, Cisco, I think I'll manage." Belén laughed and snatched the thermos from Barry.

"Hey!"

Belén backtracked around the desk with a wide smile. "But I will be like a Grinch this time to take this!"

"Nu-uh, hand it over," Cisco frowned and, just like Barry, moved towards her.

"Nope," Belén grabbed her bag on the way out. "I'm gonna see if Cait wants to head together to the mall for present shopping. I intend on getting all my presents today and wrapping them. My dad's not gonna be home till late so this is my only day to get things done. Neither of you dare to stop by, got it?"

Barry heard a silent alarm in his head go off. This could be his chance! "Y-your dad's gonna be at work all day?"

"Mhm," Belén drowned the remainder of her cup. "So, wish me luck, guys!" she cheerfully waved at them and dashed out...still holding the thermus.

"Not with the - oh forget it," Cisco huffed and resigned to see the rest of the eggnog leave with her. He'd have to get Iris to make more later...and then keep it far, far away from Belén.

Barry started leaving as well, without an explanation, when Cisco called him back.

"Where are you going!?"

"Present shopping!" Barry did the same wave before taking off, leaving a mildly confused Cisco behind.

~ 0 ~

"He's actually very easy to shop for," Caitlin remarked as she and Belén walked down the second floor of the mall, Caitlin already holding a shopping bag in one hand. "Just buy something Walking Dead related and you're set."

Belén laughed at the easy way offered. "You're not that wrong…" She had explained to Caitlin her situation with presents and apparently Caitlin didn't see the big problem Belén did. Belén assumed it was because Caitlin knew Cisco and Barry longer than she did.

"It's simple," Caitlin assured, and glanced at her friend. "Cisco - check."

"Okay, let's just say hypothetically that I do get Cisco something Walking Dead related, but what about Barry? We once watched it together and though he talked a lot - and I mean a _lot_ \- I'm pretty sure he was saying he didn't like it."

"Hmm, a little trickier…"

"Maybe I could ask Iris for help," Belén remarked then added with a light grimness, "But that still leaves Noah."

"Noah?" Caitlin was now looking at her crazy. "You mean the jerk who wrote that anti-Flash article? You're getting _him_ a present?"

"He gave me one in good peace," Belén explained. "And, considering it's Christmas, maybe I can...forgive him…"

"Bells!"

"Well, Barry didn't look so upset anymore so if he doesn't mind why should I?"

Caitlin gave her a look then shook her head. After a while more, the two split to go find a couple more presents. Belén took her chance to snag a gift for Caitlin from a perfume store then headed off for Iris' and Nina's presents. She walked into a clothing store, recalling one certain purse Iris had gaped over for a good ten minutes last week. Passing by a couple departments, she stopped in front of a pretty blue handbag with a golden chain as a strap.

Belén raised it up to see and turned it over a couple times. It was then that she felt eyes on her. She lowered the bag and glanced over her shoulder. People was passing by in a hurry, no one sparing her any looks. She started feeling a little cold and quickly put down the bag to further investigate.

Tugging on her jacket, she got out of the bag section and returned to the women section.

"Do you need help, ma'am?" A cheery blonde woman stopped her.

"No, no, I'm fine," Belén absently responded, her eyes still scanning the area.

Then, she caught someone dashing out of the store.

Belén did the same.

She ignored the loud "heys" from people she accidentally pushed past. She could see that someone, a man under a blue mask wearing a matching blue leather, was running up ahead. The staircase was apparently no trouble as he ran down them, swinging his legs over the rails. Belén came down in hasty pace, coming to a stop just a couple feet from the fountain. She was panting, the need for her sweater void as she yanked it off her. Her head turned constantly to try to catch the secret man. He was gone.

Suddenly, the fountain went haywire and splashed people nearby. Belén held an arm over her face but was still drenched in water. This was clearly a part of that man's powers - he had to be a metahuman.

As she patted her hair dryer she noticed a peculiar pattern of water droplets where people sat on the fountain. The droplets crystallized into ice bits that formed words.

 _Meet me at the city's park tonight at 11 p.m where your brother's altar used to be at if you want to know about your brother._

~ 0 ~

It was an odd feeling walking into Mercury Labs on his own. It felt even bigger to get by with the excuse he was on "CCPD business". Looking at it, it did feel a little big for a present. Because, it was _just_ for a present after all. Barry wanted something nice for Belén, that was all. Just a present. Just a present. Just a -

"Mr. Palayta," Barry had come to a stop just outside a room.

The older man in question looked up from a microscope and smiled. "Barry, afternoon. What brings you around?"

"Um…" Barry walked in, already feeling a thousand times more awkward than before.

"Is there something wrong?" David raised an eyebrow, a faint trace of concern writing across his face. "Has something happened with Bel-"

"Belén is fine!" Barry clarified with a frantic hand gesture. "Everyone is fine."

"Oh," David instantly relaxed and now, confused, looked at him expectantly.

"It's just...um…" Barry was trying to think of a way to explain his idea without making it look like something else. "See, it's nearing Christmas...and...I'm looking for presents for everyone, and right now...I'm on Belén's. But, see, it's a bit more complicated because...because...she helped my family when I was in that coma-"

"Oh yes, I remember," David returned to the microscope for his work. Barry thanked the action because he was sure his face was turning quite read.

"And so I wanted a present that would show my gratitude…"

"That's very nice of you Barry. What did you have in mind?"

"U-uh," Barry gave a nervous laugh, somewhat relieved he was taking it casually. "I know that Bells was in some sort of aerial dance group a couple years back."

"One of the best I say," David chuckled. "I was never on board with the idea of her quitting but Veronica was adamant."

"Yes, I hear…"

"So, you want my help I take it?"

"If...if you don't mind...giving me some pointers maybe?" Barry asked, now his nervousness quite visible. "She mentions it sometimes and I feel like she misses it a lot. I...I wish I could bring her back somewhere like that…"

"Do you know," David raised once again looked up from the microscope and leaned a hand on the table, "I think I know a particular group doing a show real soon. Belén would be ecstatic to see them."

"Really!?" Barry perked up and moved closer. "And d-do you mind helping me...uh, you know, pointing me towards them I mean…"

David smiled almost immediately. "I would be delighted to."

~ 0 ~

That evening, Belén was quietly finishing placing bushy green wreaths over the front window of her living room. Her father, who wore a wide smile on his face, was helping her by keeping a tight hold on the ladder she stood. He would've done it himself but Belén always liked hanging the wreaths herself.

"Belén, dear, why are you so quiet tonight? I thought you wanted my company…"

"Of course, Dad," Belén swallowed hard as she finished up the job. "We're done now and I'm very tired."

"Are you sure that's it?" David helped her down the ladder. "I wouldn't head back to work if you're getting sick."

Belén put on a smile for him. "I'm fine, I promise. I was at the mall doing present shopping and now I'm tired. I'll just head to bed early."

"Alright then," David placed a kiss on her head and walked towards the foyer. "And did you find all your gifts?"

"Um, not all," Belén plopped down on the couch, facing his way. "I've still got Iris, Nina, and Barry."

She decided after her run at the mall Cisco would most definitely be getting something Walking Dead related. It was one less thing to worry about. As for Noah, she picked up a simple shirt for him.

"You be sure to pick out something nice for them, then," David hid his knowing smile as he put on his jacket. "I'm sure they're all doing their best to get you wonderful presents."

Belén wearily looked to the side, her mind no longer on gifts. "I'm sure too…" she agreed quietly.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

"You'll be gone all night?"

"Yes, unfortunately. But Dr. Dorrance and I are hoping with these extra hours we're putting in we won't be working on Christmas nor New Years."

"Hopefully," Belén repeated with a tinge of a smile for him. "But what is it you're working on? It's not like I'm gonna blab to STAR Labs, you know."

David chuckled. "It's about tachyons."

Belén blinked then shook her head. "Nope, see, you've already lost me. But thanks for sharing."

David pointed at her. "You're the one who wanted me to share."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Bye sweetheart," David said and walked out of the house.

Belén stayed where she was for a minute as she thought about today's happenings. She glanced at the wall clock - it was ten o'clock. In one hour the man would be at the park waiting for her to appear.

Her stomach churned.

Almost right after, there was a knock on her door. Belén discarded the idea of it being her father since she knew he had the key so it left her wondering who would be making a visit right now. Her first guess was Mrs. Andrews but instead she found Barry on the other side with a grim expression on his face.

He knew.

"Caitlin told you, didn't she?" Belén quietly asked as she let him in. Of course Caitlin would tell Barry what happened at the mall. It'd been unfortunate for Caitlin to know about it in the first place but Belén had to explain of her wet appearance and her sudden chase down the mall.

"You are _not_ going," was the first thing Barry needed to make clear for her. "Don't you even dare. It's too dangerous!" he walked into the living room, stopping only to see to observe the decorations put up. "Hey, it looks nice."

With a hint of a smile, Belén walked past him and sat down on the couch again. "Thanks, my Dad finally got around to helping me. Now please, just listen to what happened okay?" Barry nodded and sat on the armrest of the couch, paying close attention to what Belén had to say. "And so this guy literally put me into a chase on the second floor. When he disappeared, he left behind a frosty mess with the fountain. He's a metahuman, Barry. I'm assuming he controls ice or something because he left me a message on the floor - written in _ice_. I'm supposed to be meeting him tonight, in about an hour."

"I'm sticking to my first statement: you're not going," Barry declared again, waving a hand at him. "It's clearly a trap."

"But don't you think if they wanted to hurt me they would've done it by now?"

"I don't know how evil people think!" Barry put himself beside her, desperately trying to make her see logic. "Their plans, whatever they are, are not to benefit you."

"But he knows about my brother," Belén whispered. "He's made it clear twice now. He wants to help me apparently. At first you sounded right - it could have been a trap - but would a person go through so much insistence just to lead me into a trap? I'm alone half the time, why not attack me there?"

"You're right, none of it makes sense, but you going to meet with this guy makes _less_ sense. You can't go!" Barry remained adamant but it appeared Belén's emotional perspective was not allowing her to see things properly.

"I _have_ to go! I've been searching for my brother like crazy! I've even had poor Felicity helping me! I'm not gonna waste this opportunity," she promised him.

"No," Barry stood up and, after a couple paces, he stopped at the other end of the couch from her, his hands rubbing together. "Okay, compromise time, alright?" Belén gave a nod, she would listen to his idea t least. "You meet with this guy but the Flash sticks around just in case the guy gets any ideas."

"If he sees you he'll think I lured him into a trap and then I'll never know what happened with my brother," Belén frowned.

"Then I stay hidden," Barry easily offered. "I stay hidden until I sense any danger. I promise."

"Okay..." Belén agreed after a good minute of silence.

~ 0 ~

At eleven o'clock sharp, Belén walked up to the park fountain to await for the mysterious caller. The place was empty since it was a weekday but she knew that Barry was somewhere out there watching and she had to admit it did make her feel a little more safe.

 _Just don't go all green on this guy_ , she kept telling herself over and over. The last thing she needed was for her emotions to make her lose herself to _that_ side. It would not only out her to the guy as a metahuman but it would also reveal to Barry the other side she so desperately wanted to hide forever.

"You came," a dark, modified voice called to her. Belén's eyes gazed ahead to find a man dressed in dark blue leather. His face was hidden by a matching blue mask. "I had to admit I was a little doubtful of you-"

"Quit the stalling, please," Belén rolled her eyes. "You know about my brother?"

"Yes, you can say that I do," the man gave a small nod of his head.

"Who are you?" demanded Belén. "And how do you know my brother, then? I want to know _now_."

"My name is Azul, and I met your brother a short while back..."

"So he's definitely alive," Belén whispered. She knew this wasn't the first time she heard it but at least now she could say it with confidence. Her brother was _alive_ and she would find him. She would find him and bring him back home.

"Oh, definitely," Azul actually confirmed for her.

Belén met his eyes again and felt a twinge of annoyance for his lack of explanations. "How the hell do you know that? And if he's alive then where is he? What've you done with him?" Azul laughed, much to her annoyance. "What are you laughing at? I asked you a question and I demand to know the goddamn answer!"

Her tone had apparently been the wrong one because Azul shot an icicle directly beside her. She gasped and jumped to the side, her gaze then flickering between the broken icicle on the ground and Azul.

"You don't _ever_ speak to me like that, you got that?" Azul pointed at her. He started coming towards her and with each step he took Belén backtracked it. " _I_ am the one who holds the information you so desperately crave."

"Stay away from me," Belén gritted her teeth. She balled a fist on her side and prayed _that_ side would stay away.

Azul did not heed her words. Instead, he created another icicle and held it against Belén. "You feel brave, Belén? I honestly don't think you're capable of it."

Belén swallowed hard and took one more step back. "You don't know me."

"No but your brother does. If you come with me I can show you where he is."

"I think _not_ ," Belén said without hesitation. Now _that_ sounded like a trap.

"Let's go, Belén. You know you want to come," Azul said with overconfidence. He wouldn't risk telling her everything about them until she was at least with them in case she decided to refuse them. Belén did not move nor respond so he took charge. He aggressively grabbed her arm and pulled her forwards.

"I'm not going!" Belén exclaimed in his face. She didn't have to repeat herself because in a second a strong force had pulled her at least ten feet away from Azul.

Barry was extremely glad Belén had agreed to this plan. He wasn't getting a good vibe of Azul and this just proved there was something wrong with him.

Azul was forced back because of the sudden yanking of Belén's arm. When he regained his composure he was facing not only Belén but a figure in red leather right next to her. "What an honor it is to meet the Flash," Azul gave a mock bow to the speedster. "Can't say I'm surprised, though."

Belén frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her response came in the form of a laugh. "You're joking me."

Barry was in no mood for joking. "I don't know who you think you are but you do not bring here just to confuse her even more. If you know something about Rayan then say it already."

Azul tilted his head and pretended to think. "Hm, I don't think I'm feeling up to it anymore."

Belén felt the rage that led to _that_ side and could barely control it. "That's not fair! You said you knew where he was!"

"I did. But you have to leave him-" Azul pointed at Barry, "-before you get anything out of me."

"No, why should I?" she snapped. "He's been helping me too. Although unlike you he wasn't obscure about anything. What he knew he told me and I expect the same from you."

"There's that demanding thing again. I don't like it," Azul scowled. Both his hands created icicles which he then raised at them. "I can be a good person but you don't want to test these waters."

"You need to _back off_ ," Barry spat, taking on an unexpected hostility towards the man. He was not going to stand there and just watch this guy threaten him and Belén. Azul redirected his aim at Barry instead.

Belén panicked at the idea of a fight and stepped forwards. "No! Just...just tell us what you know, please?"

"Come with me," Azul told her again.

" _No_ ," Barry answered for her. "She's not going anywhere with you." He exchanged a look with Belén and hoped to God she knew it would be stupid to go with Azul. Although confusion filled her eyes she gave the sense that she agreed with him.

"Oh, so you answer for her now?" Azul raised an eyebrow.

"No one answers for me," Belén replied. "But it happens that he's right. I'm not going anywhere with you, at least not until you give me something concrete."

"My help is limited-"

"You're not helping her," Barry cut in. "You're making her feel like she _owes_ you, like she should be _grateful_ that you're trying to bring her to her brother when in reality all you're doing is manipulating her feelings. She'll find her brother. I'll help her do it. My entire team will. But _you_ are not coming close to her again."

"You want a fight, speedy?"

Before Belén could cut in, Barry sped up to Azul and without a doubt answered, "Anytime. But it's not a fight you'll win considering I could just speed you to my personal jail for all bad metahumans."

Azul seemed to consider that ending and decided his best option - for the moment anyways - was to retreat. He needed the numbers of his own team to combat the speedster. He took a step back and pointed at Belén with one of the icicles he still held onto. "You'll hear from me again, I promise."

Belén couldn't help feeling just a little threatened by that even as Azul took a calm departure from the site. Barry soon returned to her and wondered, with concern, how this would affect her.

"Hey, you okay?" he gently shook her from whatever it was she was thinking about. Her eyes met his and under the little light the park offered at the time he could see their glimmer of looming tears.

"It's not fair..." she mumbled and looked to the side.

"I know," Barry agreed with her but he knew his words made no effect on her. He instead took her into a hug that could maybe give her more comfort than words would.

From a distance, Azul stopped to glance back and was still unsurprised to find the two metas in their current position. It was exactly what he reported to Maritza, Rayan and Angie when he returned to Angie's apartment.

"Let me get the straight, we send you to retrieve my sister and in return you come back with this absolutely dreadful story?" Rayan rubbed his temples on the couch.

Angie came out of the kitchen with some headache pills in hand and a glass of water in the other. "That's pathetic, you know? I had to deal with her when she was in her meta getup and I still came out better than you."

"You were _shot_ ," Noah retorted.

"Yeah, I know," Angie shot him a smirk as she sat down beside Rayan and handed him the pills and glass.

Rayan gulped down the pills and drowned some water afterwards. He then gave his older sister a sharp look. "Congratulations, you brought a moron into this group."

Maritza rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know plans didn't go well but how am I supposed to know? I'm not psychic and, up to now, you aren't either so be quiet."

"If you could have just let me take her by force then-"

"No," Rayan cut him off before he could finish. "You don't touch my sister. I should have thrown you out the window for what you did anyways but I'm gonna be nice this time and let it slide."

It was Noah's turn to roll his eyes then. "Things would be easier if she didn't have that Flash trailing after her."

"Get rid of him," Angie said casually like it was the easiest task in the world. "Aren't your powers, like, colossal damage against his?"

"Theoretically, but it's much more complicated than that," Noah shrugged. "If I do that then I'm sure to have a raging Azalea after me. I told you that your sister was smitten and now I'm sure of it. You should have seen _both_ of them at the park."

The mere idea once more put Rayan and Maritza into fits. Neither sibling wanted to even think about the possibility of their little sister having any feelings for that speedster. They wouldn't allow it.

~ 0 ~

It was late in the night yet at Mercury Labs everything was still lit up like it was merely eight in the night. Two security guards strode into a large room with silver tables lined on either side, all leading up to an enclosed, black glass room that held only one small device inside. They met with two other employees, two of the leading doctors.

"Happy Holidays," one of the security guards greeted them.

"Thank you, Jimmy, and to you," a Doctor greeted them back.

"I think we may be done for the night," the second Doctor declared with a relieved sigh as he closed the lid of the tablet he held in his arms.

"Just as well," went the first, looking relieved as well. "It's nearly three! Let me lock it up though," he nodded to the enclosed room before walking away.

The first doctor followed alongside the guards towards the two large silver doors at the end of the room.

"Hey, doc," Jimmy the guard began, looking at the first doctor, "I know it's a big secret, but can you give me a hint? What exactly are you working on in there?"

"The future of course."

They came to an abrupt stop when a loud alarm blared around the room. The lights shut down to leave only a flashing red illuminating the place.

"Doctors, get inside!" Jimmy motioned the two doctors away who turned into a sprint towards the room. "Lock down the facility!"

The two guards pulled out their guns to greet their or intruder. However, the intruder zoomed straight for them and easily took them down. He then sped towards the enclosed room, blocking the way for the second doctor.

"Lock it down, Dorrance! Lock it down!"

Dr. Dorrance did as told.

~ 0 ~

Early in the morning the CCPD were contacted and right away appeared on the spot. As Joe strode down the room, Barry was squatted near one of the three corpses with a look of, well, horror. For once, he was speechless.

"Hey," Joe came up, wearing more or less of a grim face. "What are you thinking?"

"Many things," Barry mumbled as he got up to his feet. "But, as for the evidence, the blood splatter patterns and trajectory of the remains... only a high-speed collision could have done this. But to cause this type of damage to a human in this space? Whatever hit them would have to have been moving fast."

Eddie walked up to them after conversing with the remaining witness. "Get this. The witness says all he saw was a blur. Sound familiar?"

Barry was soon faced by Joe who, for a split second, wondered if it was possible that-

"Let me in!" shouted someone from the entrance. "I said _move_!"

"Uh oh..." Joe mumbled under his breath as they turned to see who was causing the commotion.

Sure enough, Belén was battling her way through two police officers. She was frantic and refusing to take 'no' as an answer.

With a nod from Joe, Barry rushed over to retrieve her. "It's alright guys, she's with us."

Belén pushed past the two officers and rushed forwards. "I got a call and" - she ran past Barry, forcing him to go after her - "and I thought it was a joke! But, b-but-"

"Bells, you have to stop-" Barry reached forwards but barely grazed her arm.

"Where is he? I need to see him!" Belén ignored everyone's voices as she went straight to the farthest laying corpse on the ground.

"Belén, you can't-" it was Joe who had finally caught her, but it was too late...she had seen the corpse.

What came out of her mouth next was neither coherent nor human. Sobbing, she frantically tried getting past Joe to reach her father's corpse. She pushed, she jumped, she hit and she pleaded.

"You have to let me see! Please! You have to!" She cried desperately but every time she made an inch forwards Joe pulled her back. "I'm his _daughter_! Let me through!"

"Barry!" Joe glanced back at the younger man, the latter only staring grimly.

He nodded and took ahold of Belén's arms which he used to bring her back. Belén didn't care who was holding her, she only cared to be let go. "Barry, you have to let me go! I have to see him-"

"Belén, you need to calm down," Barry gripped her arms and forced her to look at him. With her tear-stained face he could barely hold himself together in a professional way. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry-"

"Don't say that…" her eyes filled with fresh new tears. "B-because if you...if you s-say that...th-then….then it m-means that...that…" her lips thinned as she pursed them together, seemingly trying to hold in her new sob, "...that my dad's actually...actually _dead_ …" her attempt was in vain because seconds after she burst into new tears.

Barry took in a deep breath and, as best as he could, he told her it was true. He didn't think he had ever seen her break down like that. Her loud sobs attracted many onlookers but no one said anything about it. They let her release her tears as freely as she wanted to. When she saw Dr. Dorrance talking with Joe and Eddie, she ceased crying and scrambled towards them, ignoring Barry's calls to "wait".

"Dr. Dorrance!" she cut into the conversation. Her tone was unusually, and yet completely understandable, cold. "You need to tell me what happened here! _Now_!" Dr. Dorrance looked to Joe and Eddie as if asking for permission to speak what he had already told them. Belén didn't like it. "Don't look at them look at _me_!" she ordered harshly. "I want to know what happened!"

Dr. Dorrance took a breath in before repeating himself. "There was...a blur...of some kind. Whatever it was, it was looking for something."

"Well, what did it look like?" Belén demanded, her voice still mighty loud and harsh.

"Like a-a man in some kind of yellow suit…"

Belén froze while Barry nearly lost it. Eddie led Dr. Dorrance away to continue further witness evidence and Barry started in the opposite direction.

Joe went after him, knowing exactly how this was about to go. "Okay. Barry, listen…"

"I have to check my files!" Barry exclaimed urgently. "Joe, you heard him, all right? The man that killed my mom... he's back."

"I know. He's been in town for a few weeks now. He paid a visit to me at the house. He took all the evidence from your mom's case."

Barry's eyes widened. "The files are gone-" he scowled - "Why wouldn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I couldn't…"

"Why?"

"Because he threatened to kill Iris."

Barry stayed put, his jaw tightening. Joe sighed and glanced over his shoulder.

"He's already made good on showing his powers…"

Barry looked past him to where Belén was knelt down beside her father's corpse, quietly weeping to herself. This would not go out in vain - the man in the yellow suit had _many_ things to pay for.

~ 0 ~

Now in STAR Labs, Joe was recounting the situation to Dr. Wells and Cisco. Barry preferred not to tell it again, not when he had done it with Belén already. He was plopped on a chair, with a face that no one wanted to cross at the moment.

"The witness described seeing a yellow blur just like the one that killed Barry's mother," Joe finished with the banger of the story.

Cisco stopped sucking on his Christmas candy cane. "Then we need to get cracking and stop this speed psycho." He flinched and sent an apologetic look at Barry. "That... I wasn't trying to give him a name."

Barry was in no mood for his friend's typical jokes. He raised his eyes only to remind, "The crime scene at Mercury Labs was on a floor with highly secured vaults, and the witness said he was looking for something."

"Whatever it was, he wanted it badly enough to kill for it," Dr. Wells muttered.

"Doctor, what do you know about this Mercury Labs?" Joe asked.

Dr. Wells raised his eyebrows, smiling in what seemed like amusement as he worked on a nearby computer. "Mercury was one of STAR Labs' major competitors until our little setback, and then it catapulted to the forefront led by Dr. Christina McGee, brilliant but egocentric physicist." He pulled up the profile of the woman onto one of the wall computers.

Cisco had taken a tablet from the desk to do his own research. "It says here Dr. McGee has secured half a billion dollars in private funding to develop, and I quote, "prototypes for the technology of the future."

Barry raised his head again when something came to mind. "Belén mentioned that her Dad was helping work something secret…" and that was possibly (and most likely) the reason he had died.

"Tina's messing with tachyons," Wells said, but didn't seem so surprised. "Superluminal particles. Of course."

Joe looked from one to another expectantly. "So what could someone do with one of those…"

"Tachyons."

"Thank you."

"Well, I don't know. Become invincible? if you could devise a matrix stable enough to harness their power, you could travel faster than light."

Barry got up from his chair, his hands balled into firm fists. "He's gonna try to get them again, so we need to get what Mercury has and use it as a lure."

"We could ask Bells' help," Cisco mumbled under his breath as he turned to leave but Barry had heard perfectly.

" _No_ ," Barry had so coldly that Cisco flinched. "She just discovered her father's been murdered. Off limits."

"Yeah…" Cisco made a face, "...you're right. I'll go find Caitlin."

~ 0 ~

Caitlin, however, was not in STAR Labs. She was at Belén's house, along with Iris, trying to help Belén get through her tough moment.

"Not exactly Jitters but it's still pretty good," Iris walked out of the kitchen holding a mug of tea. "I don't usually do tea but…" she stopped in front of the long couch where Belén sat and lowered the mug, "...it's supposed to help you relax."

"I can't relax my dad's just died," Belén unusually snapped but Iris ignored her. She knew Belén wasn't like this, she was hurting and she would need to release her anger and pain somewhere.

Caitlin walked down the staircase. "I've got your room setup, Bells, for you to take a nap."

"I don't want to sleep!" Belén nearly spilled the mug of tea in her hand. "I don't want to 'relax' nor 'rest' doesn't anyone understand? I just want…" her lips pursed together as another round of tears threatened to spill.

Iris looked over the couch to Caitlin, the latter slowly making her way towards them. They were trying to be as cautious as possible, as helpful as possible, but it didn't appear they were making such progress. So far, they had only managed to help in calling Belén's elder sister - Maritza - and her mother to give them the terrible news.

Belén didn't bother finish her sentence. Low sniffles became the only noise in the livingroom. She looked down at her mug from which she hadn't even drank from yet.

Iris took a seat on her right and put a hand on Belén's back. "There are literally no words that I can say to make this better, but you know that you can talk to me about anything."

"Yeah, me too," Caitlin nodded her head and sat down on Belén's left side.

Iris thanked her with another nod. "Caitlin and I have both lost people" - Iris missed Caitlin's look as she turned her head away - "so we both have a little understanding of what you're going through."

Belén unceremoniously sniffed as she forced herself to look up. Since she'd gotten home she couldn't bring herself to look at the Christmas decorations she and her father had just finished last night. It hurt too much to see them and know that her father would never help her decorate again. It was silly, she thought, but it was something they had always done together. Who would help her now?

Iris let Belén stay silent for another while. "You know, if you want, we can put them away." Belén snapped her head in her direction, almost surprised Iris guessed her thoughts. "I know your traditions. If you want, Caitlin and I can put them away while you go rest."

"I don't want to rest," Belén felt like a child repeating this over and over. She put down her full mug on the coffee table and got up, moving away. Caitlin and Iris hurried to do the same and watched as Belén grabbed her bag and red coat. "I don't want to be here," she announced at the doorway. "I just...I can't look…" when she felt threatened by tears again she shut her mouth, flung opened the door, and hurried out.

"We need to go," Caitlin told Iris who nodded in agreement. They each grabbed their things and scrambled to catch up with their friend.

~ 0 ~

"What do you mean my father's dead?" Rayan was nearly shouting Noah's head off. He was about a fraction from slamming Noah into a wall, and then some.

Noah, despite the little fear creeping over him, held his head high and once again explained. "Belén was in earlier in the day. She was a complete disaster because her father had been murdered the previous night."

"LIES!" Rayan screamed and actually threw Noah across the room with an angry wave of his hand. Noah landed face down and picked up his head to see Rayan pacing back and forth, seeming unbothered by his attack.

Noah knew better than to reproach him for it. He pushed himself up and dusted his jeans off. "He was murdered, alright? Something about a thief coming in to take something Mercury Labs was developing on."

Rayan stopped pacing and turned to face Noah. "We need to find out what this thing was…" his teeth gritted together and Noah was surprised to see a small vein popping in Rayan's forehead. "What was so important that my father had to die because of it?"

"Right now it's impossible to talk to Belén. She's not gonna want to tell me anything," Noah sighed. "I just have to be the understanding friend."

But his words flew right over Rayan's head. There was nothing that could phase him at the moment: his father had been murdered and he couldn't even attend a funeral in his honor.

~ 0 ~

Very quietly, barely making a noise with her heeled boots, Belén crept into Barry's lab. She didn't know what she was doing honestly, her mind buzzed and rang with so many different thoughts. She was tired - oh she was so tired, but home didn't feel like an option. She didn't want to face Iris nor Caitlin at the moment, and Cisco either. She had avoided Cisco's calls and managed to slip from Caitlin and Iris at her work. At the moment, she could only fathom seeing Barry. And even that had her nervous, because what if she was wrong?

"Barry?" she called as she made her way in. He didn't answer the first time. He seemed lost in thought on his chair, his eyes glued to a large pinboard in front of him. "Barry?" she called again, but he still did not respond. It didn't even look like he was aware she was in the room. Without raising her voice to the point of being heard downstairs, she called to Barry again.

This time, he finally heard her and jumped in his chair. With wide, blinking eyes he turned on his wheeling-chair to face her.

"You were deep in thought…" Belén observed and came forwards, gaze drifting to the pinboard. "I suppose there's no point in asking on _what_ …" She stood just beside it, eyes flickering from one picture to the next, to a newspaper clipping and so on. "Is this your mother's case?"

"Yeah," Barry nodded. "I used to study this board every day. Lately, I haven't looked at it as much as I should have."

"It was him, though, wasn't it?" she looked back at him. "That...that blur that…killed my dad and the security guards yesterday?" Barry nodded again. She left the pinboard and started to walk around, really not interested in anything except to kill time.

"What are you doing here?" Barry finally asked, but he wasn't very shocked to find her there - Belén picked up on it. "Iris has sent me a bizzilion messages asking me if I knew where you were."

"Oh yeah? And what did you tell her?" Belén stopped in front of a table near the pinboard. She picked at a couple trinkets.

"That you were with me of course. I didn't want to worry her - I knew you would be coming in sooner or later."

"You didn't know that," Belén frowned momentarily before realizing where she was at. She pretended to be casual as she shrugged. "Big deal, you were right. So, are you gonna tell me to go home and get some rest?" The rudeness in her tone made no effect on Barry. He merely blinked and gave her a small smile. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't look at me like that." Barry raised his hands in surrender and looked away, but his smile remained intact. Belén shook her head and looked at the pinboard again. "So this guy - who is he?" she demanded, and she knew she was. "What the hell does he want?"

"Dr. Wells seems to think the guy was after Mercury Lab's prototype of Tachyons," Barry explained.

"That's what my Dad was working on," Belén remembered the strange word her father had told her. "Some stupid tach...tay…"

"Tachyons."

"Whatever!" Belén snapped but abruptly stopped to take a deep breath. She swallowed hard, turned her back on Barry, and wiped her eyes dry. Without saying a word, she returned to the table near and fiddled with the trinkets again.

"I know you're here because you have questions," Barry began when he thought she would be a little more open for hearing.

"Questions?" she spared him a brief glance, pretending to be more focused on a small hour glass. "Why would I have questions? I don't...have questions…"

"You're not very good lying, Bells. Especially when you need sleep."

"I DON'T NEED SLEEP!" she bursted. Barry remained unaffected. Belén sniffed and glued her eyes to the toy hour-glass. "I'm fine."

"Look, you can ask questions today about the man in yellow, or we can do this tomorrow...when you're…" he stopped when she threw a warning glance at him, "...tomorrow…"

"I don't want to do this tomorrow. I don't…" Belén shook her head.

Barry sighed, leaning forwards on his chair. "Belén, please, just...go home. Get some rest," he gently said to her. "Don't sleep, fine, but just go home and lie down for a couple hours."

"Home…" Belén repeated sarcastically, a bitter smile as she bobbed her head. Her smile faded as her eyes watered, the correlation so visible yet no one had caught onto it...until then.

Barry straightened up, his eyes boring on her while she continued to fiddle with the hour-glass. "You don't want to go home," he realized, his eyebrows raising. "That's why you've been gone for the afternoon…"

Belén's coldness went down the drain as the seconds ticked on by. "It's a big house…" she whispered, "...but it's lonely now. Brother's gone...Dad's gone..."

"Bells, I'm so-"

"The decorations" - she turned around, her eyes glistening again, "-they're still _up_ …" she pointed languidly but her voice had broken yet she continued speaking in fragments, fighting the monumental urge to cry, "...the Christmas tree...we finished it... _yesterday_! Yesterday! Right before he...left for work…" She shook her head, her hand abruptly jerking behind, "You want me to go back to that? Please, don't make me."

Barry quickly got out from his chair and hurried forwards. As he tried hugging her, she pushed his hands away from her, explaining what had been put up in her house.

"We put the wreaths up - I can't…" she shook her head.

"Belén-"

"And the stockings and-"

"Belén, it's-"

"The angels were put up too," by then Belén gave up on hiding and burst into sobs. Barry was finally able to hug her with no resistance. "What am I supposed to do with the angels now?"

"We can...find a place for 'em…" Barry berated himself for not being able to come up with anything better than that. He was terrible at it, or so he thought.

Belén rested her head near his shoulder, her crying subsiding in volume. Her arms were neatly tucked in-between her and Barry. Through her thick, red coat she could feel Barry's hand running up and down her back. She thought it actually did make her feel a little better, she didn't know why but it just did.

"Okay, Bells, this is what we're gonna do," Barry spoke after a while. "You don't want to be alone and that's perfectly fine. I think you should stay with Iris tonight."

"But…" Belén pulled away and looked at him, her face still fresh with tears, "...do you think she'll - she'll mind?" Now that she looked back at it, she had acted pretty rude towards Iris and Caitlin all day.

"Not at all," Barry assured her.

"A-and Joe?" Belén's flickered to the doorway as if the man himself would stroll in at that moment.

"Believe me, I think Joe won't mind either," Barry then gestured to himself. "He has experience."

Even though there had been a crack of a smile for a split second, Belén shook her head at him. "Don't say things like that. I think...I think I'm gonna go talk to Joe first, though," she straightened herself up, fixing her hair as she took breaths in, "Just to...just to make sure."

"He'll be fine but if it makes you feel better, go right ahead," Barry gestured the way. Belén nodded that it would.

She looked at him for a moment then surprised him with a second hug. "I don't know why but I knew coming here would make me feel better. I was right." Barry hugged her back a minute before she pulled away again. "I'm gonna go see Joe downstairs."

"I'll meet you down in a couple minutes then," Barry smiled and walked towards his desk. He didn't want her going out alone due to that mysterious metahuman still lurking about. If he was watching Belén - like Barry was pretty sure he was - then he was probably just waiting for a golden opportunity.

When Belén walked out of the room, Barry looked around for anything he might later need for this new 'man in the yellow suit' case. He happened to look for things near the window and froze on his spot when he saw something - _someone_ \- a building across. Without a second thought, he sped out of the room, heading straight for the man in yellow.

If he had thought it was all a hallucination, now he knew he had been right all along. He sped alongside the other speedster, only catching a glimpse before he was left behind. Still, he caught him in an alley, stopping across. There stood the blur image of the man in yellow.

"It was you! You were the one in my house that night. You killed my mother! Why?" Barry was at a loss for words, the ones spoken were like a recital he memorized since he could remember. This was, after all, a moment he had been waiting for his entire life.

"If you want to know that, you're gonna have to catch me," the man in yellow retorted in a modulated voice. In a second, he was gone again...but so was Barry.

Their speedy race ended in a large, empty stadium. Lights turned on with the contact.

"Not fast enough, Flash," taunted the man before heading for him. Barry wasted no time and charged after him, only their color of speed able to tell there were people inside. It looked like they were going to collide with each other but the man in yellow seized Barry's wrist and flipped him over, letting him crash to the ground.

Barry got up within and second and charged again, this time following the man in yellow around the stadium seats. The man led him and around and around but Barry was not able to touch him. They stopped at the field again and this time Barry waited not for another charge as he went straight for the man, attempting in vain to punch him across the face. With such ease the man had once again taken control of the situation and threw Barry onto the field.

"Who are you?" Barry asked through his struggle.

"You know who I am, Barry…"

Picked up again and thrown again, strong punches were added and before Barry knew what was happening, he was on the ground again with a hard foot stepping over his back.

"I don't know who you are!"

"But you do, Barry. We've been at this a long time, you and I, but I'm always one step ahead. It is your destiny to lose to me, Flash, just as it was your mother's destiny to die that night."

The man in yellow them chose to make his departure, leaving Barry to ponder the meaning behind his words, because truthfully Barry didn't understand one bit.

~ 0 ~

That following morning, Barry was up (and practically had been up without sleep) and relaying his encounter with the man in yellow to Dr. Wells and Joe. "He acted like he knew me, like we'd done this before!" Barry was pacing back and forth, the more he kept thinking about the angrier he got.

"He was antagonizing you, Bare," Joe resolved quick, not that it mattered to Barry. It didn't look like he'd listened.

"I would get close, and he'd just pull away. I mean, this was just some sick game to him!"

"You'll catch him. We'll help," Wells assured.

"No, you don't get it, all right? His speed, it is... it's beyond me. I'm not the fastest man alive. He is. So how do we catch somebody that even I can't keep up with?"

"The beautiful thing about force fields, Mr. Allen, is they're impervious to speed. Now, we're almost finished fabricating the trap, and all that remains is for Detective West to procure the bait."

"I'm on it," Joe turned to leave but stopped midway. "Barry, why don't you stay here?"

"No, Joe, today is not the day to tell me to stay behind," he half-snapped.

Joe saw this was an easy loss but played his cards quite well. "You know, an interesting thing happened last night. Belén came to speak with me at the CCPD, asking if it was alright to stay with Iris at the house. I said sure, it was fine and I thought it was best for her too. So then I said, 'I'll drive you home' and then she told me _you_ were going to take her home...but she came home alone after about an hour."

By the time Joe had finished, Barry's mind had already reminded him. "I forgot!" his eyes widened in alarm. "I-I was going to and then...then the man in yellow appeared and I - Joe, I'll see you in a bit."

"Thought you would," Joe said after the metahuman had sped out, unable to hid the little hint of smirk he wore.

"Nicely played," remarked Wells, matching the smirk.

~ 0 ~

Iris put away a carton of orange juice into the fridge - after a failed attempt of breakfast for Belén - and returned to the sink where she was finishing washing up the remainder of dirty dishes...also from her breakfast attempt. She was constantly keeping an ear on the living room, where the TV was on some show she really couldn't care less about. But apparently, it was a series Cisco recommended - or forced - Belén to watch at some point, even forcing down Iris a couple times in the process. Iris thought it was worth a shot to get Belén a little less...sad?

But then there was the sound of the door opening and Iris thought Belén was trying to escape again. "Belén!" she shut off the sink and rushed towards the living room, her hands dripping from the water she hadn't dried off. She was relieved to see Barry coming in and that Belén was still lying on the couch, rather motionless, but still there.

Barry silently walked by the couch, eyeing their mutual friend that was curled up onto a side of the couch. There was a white blanket draped over her still body, and her head was resting over a cushion. With eyes locked onto the TV, Belén didn't seem to acknowledge either of them. It didn't even look like she was actually watching TV either.

Iris motioned to Barry to follow her into the kitchen. "I'm glad you're here cos my shift starts in thirty and for some reason neither Caitlin nor Cisco are answering my calls. I don't want to leave her alone…"

"What about her sister?" Barry had to ask. He would often course stay with Belén but there was also a sister they couldn't ignore.

Iris rolled her eyes. "She mourns on her own apparently." Of course had phone Belén's sister, but Maritza preferred to grieve on her own, it was part of her cycle and Iris, despite being upset, wasn't very surprised. It was the same way she'd mourned her husband and her younger brother. Iris understood each person had a different way to mourn their loved ones but wasn't staying close to your family more important? A better way to grieve?

"Her mom isn't coming in till the day after tomorrow," Iris continued to explain. "I think it's good she listened to you and stayed here. But I just don't want to leave her alone."

"Yeah, I know," Barry nodded. "What's she, uh...doing exactly?"

"Attempting to watch television, I don't know," Iris sighed and started back for the living room. "She doesn't want to sleep though, and she's done good because she hasn't, not even a bit. I'm confident her body's going to force her at any moment now."

When they returned Belén was in the same position she was earlier, she hadn't moved in any way. Iris took a deep breath in and approached her.

"Bells, are you sure you don't want-"

"If you finish that sentence, I'll throw you this cushion," Belén threatened, her eyes glued to the television across. Zombies were being slashed.

Iris sighed and straightened up, moving over to the couch chair and plopping down. She gestured to Barry to try his luck now.

Barry did just that. "Bells, can I…?" he gestured to the small empty spot beside her on the same couch.

Without saying a proper answer, Belén shuffled until she had sat down, pulling the blanket around closer to her. "I don't want to talk," she warned him, a slight colder tone than on Iris.

"I'm sorry I left yesterday," Barry guessed the reason for the different treatment. "Things...came up…"

"I said I don't want to talk," she repeated, seemingly discarding his apology.

"Right, let's just listen to zombies then?" Barry pretended to get more comfortable, discreetly scooting closer to her.

"I'm promised Cisco I would continue watching," Belén gave a prompt explanation for her odd sense of television.

"He'll be so happy to geek over it with someone…"

"You're one to talk," Belén retorted quietly, and for once Iris was sure she saw a little smirk at the corner of Belén's mouth.

"What are you talking about?" Barry remained perfectly innocent looking. "You know I don't like this show, none of it makes sense!"

"That's because you're looking at all the wrong thi-" a yawn interrupted Belén then. Barry exchanged a look with Iris, the latter encouraging him to keep going. Cautiously, Barry moved one arm around Belén and, with a little nudging, she rested her head on his forearm. "You're looking at it all wrong," she said afterwards, her eyes blinking slower but still overly resisting the urge to shut completely.

"But how can you look past them?" Barry continued as well, gesturing to the television. "I mean, look at that? The proportions are all wrong!"

"What proportions...they're _zombies_ …"

"Which were technically people! The cut up heads are completely wrong! The size of an average human head is around 22 inches and _that_ is not it."

In the meanwhile, Iris propped an elbow on the armrest, leaning her cheek onto her palm. She was so lost on everything Barry was saying, and it appeared Belén was too. Her eyebrows were knitting together, but her eyes were loopy now.

"How do you expect me to believe this had been an actual person when the eyes are too far apart? The jaw is disproportionate! That's not even the worst though, if we want to delve in deeper we need to discuss some of the logic behind this. How they fight is completely unrealistic. They've been killing zombies in the same area and yet there's still dozens and dozens of them-"

"Barry!" Iris finally exclaimed when she herself drifting off. The metahuman in question, startled, glanced towards her. With a hand gesture from her, Barry looked to his other side and found Belén a little slumped against his arm and finally asleep. "If I had known that all she needed was to hear some nerd talk I would've called you in hours ago."

Barry made a face at her but focused on setting Belén down on the couch again, choosing to leave her the entire space. He gently placed her blanket over her and made sure it completely covered her. Bringing a cushion to her head, he brushed some of her hair away from her face.

Iris watched all this from her spot on the chair. Something went off in her mind, and cautiously, and earnestly, she spoke that conclusion. "You're not...actually dating...are you?"

Barry glanced at her, wearing a sarcastic surprise over his features. "But what would make you say that Iris?"

Iris smiled, playfully rolling her eyes. "Alright, so I was wrong. My bad."

"Thank you," Barry reverted back to his common smiles. "So," he walked to the end of the long couch and sat on the armrest, "what made you finally get it?"

"That I know you perfectly well," Iris shrugged. "You've like two girlfriends but I know when it's a relationship and looking at you now…" her eyes passed Barry to Belén who slept peacefully," ...and her... I don't see it. Bummer."

Barry rolled his eyes at her. "Well, at least something went right."

"Oh, don't get all smug with me. The signs were there!"

"They really weren't," Barry said back, bemused.

Iris took a long, dramatic sigh and waved her hands at him. "Fine, I was wrong. But you have to admit there wasn't much I could think other of. It's just…" she leaned back on her chair, making a face. "I talked to Caitlin yesterday, and...I asked her, if there was something new with you that I should know about."

Barry stiffened. "Like wh-what?"

"I don't know, you tell me! Lately I feel like you don't want to share with me anymore. I get that you've made other friends and that they probably understand more of the words that come out of your mouth than I do but...I miss you. And," Iris pursed her lips, a little smile weasling out, "I don't know...I feel like you spend a whole lot of time with my friend," she gestured to Belén again, "than with me. What do you two do?"

Barry cleared his throat and looked away, quickly racking his mind for a good answer. "You know, we...talk? And then...you know, we have...mutual friends…"

Iris gave a small nod, but his answer did no better for her. "Things are meant to change, I get it, but I miss you. You think you could make some time for little ole me?"

"Of course I can," Barry smiled at her. "I always do. There's just many things going on right now, but you're right. So right."

"Do you know," Iris leaned forwards, her own smile widening, her happiness finally glowing, "Eddie asked me to move in with him...and I said yes."

"Wow," Barry's eyes widened, "Wow! Congratulations, Iris!"

Iris was completely giddy. "You're the first one I tell!"

"And you've been dying to do so, huh?" Barry raised his eyebrows, trying his best not to laugh at her excitement.

"A bit," Iris bobbed her head, chuckling for a moment. "I haven't really had an opportunity to. I mean," she paused and looked towards at Belén, "I didn't want to bring in that while Bells is so down. Hell, I haven't even told Dad yet. Can you imagine what's that gonna be like that?" her eyes widened in fear.

Barry smirked. "Oh, just a bit. Good luck with that one."

Iris playfully reached to hit him. "Shut up! Now, I really have to go," she pushed herself up. "You think you can bring her upstairs?" she nodded past him. "I was thinking, because she's gonna stay for a couple days, she can use your old room?"

"Yeah, okay," Barry nodded, turning for Belén.

"It _is_ presentable right?" Iris placed her hands on her hips. "Because, I love you Barry, but you're kind of a slob."

"Hey!" Barry frowned.

"And just because you're not going out with Bells doesn't mean I don't catch those little looks you give her so it's best to leave a good impression on her!"

"W-wait what? What's-"

"Remember, Barry, first impressions are _very_ important."

Iris walked off leaving a stuttering Barry behind.

Sure, Belén was pretty and smart - and very passionate about her interests - but those were qualities of his... _friend_. His absolute friend.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yikes I know I'm uber late and I'm sorry about that! I just returned from vacation so belated merry Christmas and New Years to everyone! I actually thought about this particular OC a little bit more than the rest because of this spanish Christmas song my family always listens to. If anyone's Hispanic then you've probably heard it lmao. The song literally says they're on their way to Belén, a town xD

I hope this chapter was good! A lot happened in this with a *sniff* a tragic ending for one character (my poor Bells .). Let me know what you guys thought! :)

 **For the Review:**

I think this chapter gave us a lot more of Belén/Barry moments so hope that made it even better lmao! And thanks! :)


	13. Ever After Christmas

In the undergrounds of the Central City mall, Cisco led the way for Caitlin, holding a small, black device in one hand and a thin, white stick with a circle at its end in the other hand. Caitlin followed closely behind holding her phone as a flashlight for the dark corridors. Both were anxious enough hoping they would find Ronnie Raymond, since this was the spot where Caitlin had spotted him two days ago.

"So, how does this work again?" Caitlin asked quietly in case anyone lurked around. They didn't exactly want to spook them away.

"We follow the ionized particles, and that should lead us right to him," Cisco explained with his eyes glued to his device. "The CPMs are increasing. We should have told Dr. Wells and Barry."

"No," Caitlin remained firm on the decision she took before conducting this trip. "Not until we're sure it's him."

"Oh, wow."

"Look, Ronnie is not like you remembered him," Caitlin swallowed. She still couldn't come to terms with the fact she had seen her supposed-to-be-dead fiancee in the parking lot. She honestly didn't know how she had managed to tell Cisco anything. No one knew besides him and now here they were.

"What does that mean?" Cisco asked, briefly shooting her a look.

"Just don't freak out when you see him, okay?"

Cisco's device abruptly turned off and so he stopped as well. "Oh, I really wish that was because the batteries were dead." But of course, he knew better.

Caitlin spotted something at the end of the corridor - it had the shape of a man. "Ronnie?" she decided her luck and called out. She ignored Cisco's gestures to stay back as she went towards the man that had shined visibly from the little light offered at his end. "Ronnie, it's me, Cait. Look, I brought Cisco with me." She gestured back, her other hand cautiously taking Ronnie's. "We're here to help you. You were in an accident. Do you remember?"

'Ronnie' grunted, his voice stiff as if it was unused. "I'm not Ronnie."

"Yes, you are. You're Ronnie Raymond…"

"I'm not Ronnie," he snatched his hand from hers. "I told you that. Now get away from me."

"Look, we just need to take you back to S.T.A.R. Labs. We'll help you remember who you are-"

Ronnie stepped back, uttering "Firestorm" before he literally _burst_ into flames. Caitlin was sent back against Cisco from the impression, and by the time the flames had died down Ronnie was far away and out of sight.

It took a couple of minutes for Cisco to be able to speak again. "C-c'mon, C-C-Caitlin," he grabbed her arm and pulled her away into the direction they'd come in through. He took Caitlin's phone to check the time, looking for any little distraction. "Damn, we're late!"

Caitlin was in shock and terror at the same time, her mind so frazzled she didn't register them leaving the undergrounds and the mall altogether. All she could think of was Ronnie. How that wasn't _her_ Ronnie anymore.

~ 0 ~

The gloomy sky matched the gloomy mood set over the cemetery. There was a small crowd of people dressed in black by the time Caitlin and Cisco reached the place. Unfortunately, the coffin had already been put down underground.

"You're late," Barry muttered to Cisco. "Where were you?"

"There was traffic," Cisco glanced at Caitlin, who was quietly sniffling to herself. He was pretty sure those tears weren't exactly for David Palayta. He placed a hand on Caitlin's arm, reminding her that she wasn't alone in this.

Spotting one of the Palayta's, Cisco decided to go up ahead. There were only a small crowd of people in the funeral - it being almost Christmas now - so there wasn't many people to go through to get to Belén.

"You're late," she sniffled at him.

"Sorry, there were just things-"

Belén didn't care. She threw her arms around Cisco and hugged him, letting her tears flow from her eyes. Belén's mother, Veronica Green, and her sister, Maritza, were sniffling and watching the grave be filled.

Belén shifted her head to watch the procession herself, but her vision was constantly blurred from her tears. Behind them, Caitlin's own tears were becoming a little too much that Barry finally inquired over it...but not to a much luck.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked and winced, "I mean, you know, apart from this?"

Caitlin beared a little smile and with a napkin dabbed away some tears from her cheeks. "It's...just so sad, you know? All of this? ...during the holidays?" she decided to hold back on the Ronnie story for another time.

"Yeah," Barry nodded, eyes drifting to the front again, this time focusing a little more on Belén. She was still hugging - or practically _clinging_ onto - Cisco. There was a little ping in his heart that made him feel...upset? Was that the feeling? No, because he shouldn't be upset, especially not now. Not when Belén was miserable.

"Do you think that Bells is going to move?" Caitlin's sudden question snapped Barry from his confusing thoughts. He quickly looked at her, registering the question that made him feel that much more uneasy. Caitlin could see - what she thought was - confusion and elaborated quietly, for people were moving up to pay their respects. "I just don't think she'll be able to live on her own in that house. She lost her brother already, and now her Dad? I mean, it's why she's been staying with Iris right? Because she can't face her home? Do you think this time her mom is going to get her to go back to Star City with her? Or, at the very least, Maritza is going to take her home across the city?"

"N-no…" Barry said, unsure. "I don't...I don't think so." He _hoped_ not.

"I would miss her so much," Caitlin sighed, raising her now dry face to see the procession. Her eyes were still red from crying but otherwise it would appear she'd only been crying for the funeral. "But then again, I would understand."

"But she wouldn't," Barry reiterated strongly. Caitlin side-glanced at him, slightly confused. "I-I mean, Belén doesn't look...like she'd want to leave."

"Still, we never know."

Although Caitlin didn't mean that as a warning, it felt like one to Barry - one he didn't want to see through.

When the funeral concluded, most people began to disperse after bidding Belén and her family goodbye. They had planned on no funeral service afterwards because, frankly, no one was in the mood.

"Dear," Mrs. Andrews took Belén into a big hug, "if you need anything, you just let me know, alright?"

"I will, Mrs. Andrews," Belén gave the woman a light smile.

"And Julian feels terrible for not being able to be here," Mrs. Andrews rubbed Belén's arm. "But he sends his condolences."

"Thank you," Belén let the woman go after that. Cisco, who was still with her, turned her just in time to see Caitlin coming towards them with Barry.

"Bells, Dr. Wells feels bad that he couldn't be here but he's not a fan of cemeteries..." Caitlin trailed off.

Belén understood it had to do with his wife's death and of course didn't get upset over it. "It's okay. I know it's not easy for either of you-" she directed that for Caitlin and Barry, "-to be here too. I really appreciate it."

"You know we wouldn't be anywhere else," Caitlin gave her a hug.

"Yeah, we're always going to be there for you," Barry said and took his turn to hug her after Caitlin.

"I know that, trust me," Belén managed to smile a bit.

"Look, Bells, we're going to catch that man. I swear to God we will," Barry vowed, both for her and for him.

"We're already working on something," Cisco added.

"Right now, I just..." Belén had gone from the anger stage to utter despondence. Her father was gone and he would never come back. She would have to live with that for the rest of her life. She would have to live without him for the rest of her life.

The idea scared her to pieces.

And it made fresh tears fill her eyes.

"Sorry," she quickly took in a big breath in hopes of calming down before the waterworks really started.

"It's alright," Cisco rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Belén?" Iris finally got through to the crowd. She'd stopped by to say her condolences to Belén's mother and sister first. "Your mother says she's going to stop by the house to see what, uh...needs to be packed away..."

"Like hell she will," Belén knew exactly where her mother was going and she was not having it.

"You want me to come with you?" Iris was sure Belén was still on the fence of returning home. During the time Belén had stayed with her, Belén had her things brought to her by her friends. They were more than happy to avoid Belén the pain of seeing her empty house...but now there was no avoiding it.

"Yes, please," Belén nodded.

"We'll see you later," Caitlin said to her. They couldn't say anything more about their plan for the new evil speedster with Iris around but Caitlin was almost sure Belén didn't really have a head to listen to the plan anyways.

"Thanks for coming," Belén waved at her friends goodbye and walked with Iris towards the parking lot.

"What now?" Cisco asked the remaining two.

"We catch that man," Barry gritted his teeth together and turned the opposite way.

They had to enact part one of their plan.

~ 0 ~

"I SAID NO!" Belén screamed, standing right in front of her house's staircase. Her mother and sister - along with her nephew Axel - were looking overly confused. Her mother was getting impatient.

"Annah-Belén, there is no point in keeping that room opened for your torture!" Veronica rubbed her forehead. "This is exactly what you did with Rayan's room and what good did that do to you?"

"Mom, it's not right to do this now," Maritza said, much calmer than her younger sister. "We had the funeral about an hour ago, try to understand."

Belén gave a gracious look towards Maritza before speaking again. "Mom, I just lost my Dad and you want me to pack up his things already? Do you understand how awful it is of you to ask me this? To _force_ me into this?"

Iris tried her best not to feel as awkward as she really did. She was there for support but her frustration was getting to her too. Belén had just put her father in a grave and her mother was already talking about putting his things away? "Why not just start with disposable things?" she found herself suggesting. Veronica turned to Iris with a questionable look and although Iris was a bit nervous now she decided to keep going. "Belén hasn't really been around so I'm sure there's a bunch of food in the kitchen that's no longer good."

"Iris is right, Mom," Maritza said, and Iris was deeply grateful for it. "We should leave Dad's things alone for now."

"I can help," Axel raised a hand and started for the kitchen. Iris decided to go along with it - it looked like Belén needed a moment to herself anyways. She often did that nowadays. The once motor-mouth Belén was ceasing to exist. It was frightening.

~ 0 ~

Once changed back into regular clothes, Joe and Barry focused again on retrieving the Tachyon prototype from Dr. McGee. It was part one of their plan and a very crucial one at that. Dr. McGee refused again when Joe alone had asked, and so with no options Joe brought Barry in to brainstorm together.

Now, McGee was looking at an official looking paper in her hands, but there was still something in her look that said this was going to fail as well. "Judge Hankerson was gonna sign this, he would have done so already."

"Look, I'm sure you don't want this investigation to get any more public than it's already been, do you, doctor?" Joe tilted his head.

"This has Harrison Wells written all over it in big, black letters. I am not giving you my tachyon prototype."

Barry, with arms crossed, and a terrible mood, went to the last resort - a not so kind one. "It was quite the tour of your facility, doctor," he began in a distinct, sarcastic tone, "You were fine to let us dumb cops walk around, but I majored in physics and chemistry, and I saw a whole lot of stuff that Sciencie-showcase Magazine would love to hear about. So should I call their editors directly or just leave a few posts on their website?"

There was a visible tension between him and Dr. McGee, but the woman finally gave in and in a low voice told them, "You'll have the tachyon device within the hour. I see why Harrison holds you in such esteem, Mr. Allen. You're very much alike." She spat the last the sentence and strode off.

"Nicely done," Joe praised Barry, but Barry left much in the same manner as .

~ 0 ~

"We're not going to move anything, Belén, I promise," Maritza startled her younger sister from her thoughts. Belén was standing under the doorway of their father's bedroom which was still in the exact way their father had left it.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Mar," Belén mumbled.

"Hey, I know what I'm saying. Trust in me, alright? You know me-"

Belén turned to face her sister, revealing a visible annoyed expression. "No, I don't know you, Maritza. You're hardly around..."

Maritza felt the inevitable guilt in the pit of her stomach. Of course she couldn't be around that much. Being a single mother with a full time job and plus doing secret meetings with their 'disappeared' brother didn't leave a lot of time for visits.

"You're not alone in this, Belén," Maritza said quietly.

"I'm not," Belén agreed.

"Maybe you should rest-"

Belén rolled her eyes. "Maritza, for the love of God, don't tell me to get rest when our Dad's been murdered."

"How...how would you know that...?"

"Because I do, alright? I was there when the CCPD talked to the witness - Dr. Dorrance. I heard everything, he told me everything. There was a blur, a man, and he was fast too-"

Maritza's eyebrows knitted together as Belén went on. "Are you telling me the Flash killed our father?"

"What? No!" Belén said, in aghast. "Of course not!"

"But you just said this man was fast and-"

"God, Maritza, there are _two_ of them! One good - the Flash - and another bad." Belén swallowed hard. "There was this man, a man in yellow, and he got into Mercury Labs, for Tac...tachy...tach - something important from the lab. This man murdered our father because he was in the way. And it _wasn't_ the Flash. I swear."

Maritza was speechless.

Belén sniffled loudly. Suddenly, the hallway seemed to be crushing her. "I can't...I can't stay here..." she rushed past Maritza, ignoring her sister's calls.

~ 0 ~

Cisco looked up from one of the desk computers with an unmistakable pride on his face. "The tachyon device is in place," he announced to the others. He picked up a tablet beside him and left the cortex.

Barry hated being doubtful of his friends but this case was just far too important. "You think it'll work?"

"It'll work," Dr. Wells assured.

"So how do we advertise to him that the prototype's here?"

"We'll take care of that," Wells then glanced at Joe, the latter doing the same.

Barry noticed the oddness and asked, "What's the problem?"

"Look, Barry…" Joe began, cautiously, "Me and Dr. Wells have spoken, and…"

"We think it would be best if you weren't here for this," Wells finished for him, much smoother and clear.

None of this made any difference to Barry. "What are you talking about?"

"You're too close to this," Joe explained.

"Or maybe you're not close enough," Barry countered, his voice rising. "If you hadn't been too scared and warned me that he was here weeks ago, I could have been prepared for this."

"I think we can all appreciate Joe's concern for Iris, Barry," Wells reminded him of what had been on stake for Joe.

"That's why I have to be here! I'm the best chance at catching this guy!"

Joe shook his head at him. "Not right now, not in this state."

Barry saw some relevancy and tried calming down, but it was virtually impossible. "This man stabbed my mother through the heart and sent my father to prison for it. This is my fight!"

"Not today, son."

Barry could see when he was losing and unfortunately this was one of those moments. Without giving them another word, he snatched his jacket from a nearby table and left the room.

~ 0 ~

"Now, now, why are you on your own during this time of year?" a modulated, man's voice startled Belén from behind.

She had returned to the graveyard after everything and was standing at her father's freshly planted grave. Glancing behind her, she saw a familiar man dressed in blue leather and a matching blue mask. Immediately anger flashed across her face. "Get the hell away from me!"

Azul gave a small laughter in response.

Belén felt that course of anger that was close to triggering _that_ side of her powers. She could feel the small prick of green surface on parts of her skin. "I don't know what the hell you want from me since the last time we met you did nothing but mess around..."

"I'm not here to harm you, Belén."

"And yet you have an icicle in your hand," Belén nodded her head to the freshly made icicle in the man's hand.

"Insurance in case your little speedy friend pops up anytime soon."

"You can stop being scared, he's not here," Belén couldn't help the smirk playing across her lips.

"Well, that's nice and all but I don't quite trust you with that-" Azul ignored the loud scoff Belén gave in return, "-since the last time we met you brought him along."

"Could you blame him? You're a stranger who's most likely committed crimes no one can pin you with."

"Easy there, I'm here to talk to you. Actually," Azul straightened his jacket proudly, "I'm here to help you reunite with your family. But it all depends on you."

"I've heard this before," Belén rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

Azul went after her, dropping his icicle, and grabbed her by the arm to turn her around. Belén found herself just a tad too close to him for her liking. "It's funny you think you're any different from me-"

Belén pushed him away from her and glared. "That's because I _am_! I'm no criminal like you."

"We've both lost people to this stupid Particle Accelerator."

Belén detected a trace of deep despondence in his tone, the kind you couldn't fake. It was the one she was sure she carried at the moment. "Who did you lose?" she found herself asking.

"My mother. She was all I had in the world and she was killed on the street when that Accelerator went off. I didn't even get to bury her because her body was entangled with other deceased."

"I'm so sorry," Belén whispered. It was apparent the pain was still pretty raw despite the time.

"You see, we're not so different. Perhaps I've been going about this all wrong with the mysterious texts and phone calls. You need to see that I'm being honest. There was the first detail about me, now you go."

"Oh, so now we're doing an exchange?" Belén raised her eyebrows. "I never agreed to that."

"But you did - the moment you gave that sympathetic face of yours. So, c'mon, tell me something about yourself."

Belén hesitated, turning her head slightly, looking him up and down. "I can't be sure you're saying the truth. For all I know, this is a trap, and the moment I let my guard down you'll try to do something."

"Or, I could just be the one person who can help you get to your brother," Azul countered with.

"I already have people helping me look for him," Belén crossed her arms.

Azul scoffed. "Oh please, those idiots you have for friends have the answers right under their noses and they haven't figured it out. Don't confide in them so much, Belén. You don't belong with them."

Belén's eyes widened, visibly offended. "Excuse me? You know my friends now?"

"Oh, c'mon," Azul titled his head. "You, a journalist, making a friends with bio-engineers? Police officers? Forensics? How uncomfortable it must be for you sometimes. They're like in their own little world but you can't seem to reach up to them. I'm sure often times you wished you were like them, right?"

It was so easy to tell how close to home he was hitting. But it was necessary to get her to willingly come with him.

"My Dad said, once, that the world needed a woman like me...and I'm going to live by that, for him," Belén swallowed roughly. "And soon, someone else will see that too. So I don't care if my friends happen to be smarter than me. The world needs a Caitlin Snow; it needs a Cisco Ramon; it needs a Barry Allen. But it sure as hell needs a Belén Palayta too."

Azul smirked, impressed by what he was hearing.

~ 0 ~

A prison was never in the Christmas mood, but that didn't matter as Henry Allen walked into the visitor room to have, what he thought would be a simple Christmasy, conversation with his son. He plopped down on his chair and picked up the wall phone. "Merry Christmas, Slugger."

Barry gave a sad smile in return. "Merry Christmas.

It didn't take so much as a minute for Henry to see that something was completely wrong with his son. "You all right, Barry?"

"I screwed up, dad," Barry put it to the very shortest of answers. "After years of searching... I finally found him. I found the man who killed mom…" Henry froze on his spot, but let Barry continue. "The man in yellow, the one in the lightning. He's out there, and I had him. He got away. I... I was so close. I promised you that I would get you out of here." Barry's eyes quickly filled with a rush of tears that were, in vain, kept in. "Every day you spend in here has been because of him... Until today. Now you're in here because of me, and I'm so sorry." No longer able to help himself, he broke down.

"I... Barry. Barry, this is not your fault," Henry was at a loss of words for a moment but reaffirmed himself for his son. "Look at me." Sheepishly, Barry did, but the tears continued rolling down his cheeks. "I know what you've given up. Every decision you've made in the past 14 years has been because of me and your mom... what you studied, why you became a CSI. There are so many things you have never pursued because you were too consumed with what happened to me and your mom to let yourself have a life. Well, let it go now, Barry. Hear me now. The man in the yellow suit...has taken enough from us already. Don't let him take any more."

"But-"

"No," Henry repeated himself. "I want you to go home, and to celebrate Christmas with your friends. Understand me?"

Barry sniffed and rubbed away some tears with the back of his hand. "Believe me, it's not a very cheerful Christmas anyways."

"You can't focus on that man in-"

"It's _hard_ when he's murdered one of your friend's fathers as well."

Henry's mouth opened but no words came out. He opened and closed it several times but still there was nothing to say.

"He's back in town, Dad, I told you," Barry repeated, pushing his chair further in. "And he's...he's looking for something. In doing so, he murdered my friend's father a couple days ago. The funeral was today, actually."

"Poor girl," was all Henry could say.

"This adds onto the reasons of finding that man and putting him away," Barry gritted his teeth. "He's a murderer, and he _has_ to be stopped."

Henry sighed, of course there was no stopping Barry from fervently looking for that wretched man.

~ 0 ~

It was growing dark out, yet Belén remained at the graveyard...with Azul.. Her heart had ceased to beat rapidly as her fear subsided. The green from her skin had vanished she was sure. She was nowhere near comfortable yet, but she figured she wasn't in any immediate danger considering they'd been going back and forth with words and explanations. She finally understood: he would not bring her against her will. That was her only advantage and she wasn't going to waste it.

"So, mind telling me why you know where my brother is?" she had mastered masking fear with professionalism. She was acting as if she was conducting any other interview for an article.

"Because he is not the same anymore."

Tilting her head, Belén considered all possible meanings for this statement. However, someone else spoke up, and it left her drained of color.

A woman in clad purple, wearing a mask that covered half her face, was walking up towards them, using a modulated voice like Azul. "I'm surprised she hasn't hit you yet, Azul. I would have."

Belén whirled around, flinging her ombre hair with her. " _You_! You're working...you're working with _her_!?"

Azul groaned in annoyance. "I was working on something, Plasticine, but thanks."

Plasticine displayed an open smirk. "You were taking too long. Honestly, if this is how you do your day job, it's a real shocker how you're not fired."

"This was all a mistake, a big mistake," Belén muttered, her heart beginning to retake that speedy beating.

"On the contrary," Plasticine's smirk vanished into thin air, her voice lowering into that which made Belén fear for herself even more, "It's good we finally meet on good terms. You are exactly where you ought to be."

"I need to be far away from you! You...you almost tried to kill me, don't you remember that? Scared me half to death!"

"Oh, so we only remember that bad parts eh?" Plasticine exchanged a look with Azul then laid eyes on her again. "But how about a 'thank you' for killing your ex? Do I not get to a redemption card for helping you get home safely?"

"What are you talking about?" Belén frowned.

"That I was there on the night you were rescued from your kidnapper, Belén. I was there to help save your ass, along with the Flash's. I got that kidnapper and I killed him. And if you don't believe me, then go and ask the Flash. I'd like to see him lie straight to your face."

Belén was 100% sure that Barry _never_ mentioned anything about Plasticine being there. Then again, the only time they spoke about that incident was minutes after she'd woken up in the hospital...but she'd been drugged on meds so she couldn't remember anything from that moment.

Plasticine gave a short laugh and moved up, only to have Belén instinctively retract that same step back. Plasticine raised her hands, showing her appearance of good terms. "I'm only here to help. Whatever you may think of me, of Azul, you should put it away until after you hear our sides of the story. We're all victims of the Particle Accelerator blast. As was your brother."

"So you know where my brother is too?" Belén rolled her eyes. "I figured that much from the last time we spoke - sorry, you threatened me. What I can't help wonder right now is why all of a sudden you're talking to me. _Where_ is my brother?"

Plasticine pursed her lips, looking like she'd been challenged. "Your brother's car was found just a couple blocks from his university, in which he left everything but his laptop. That laptop was an had dark blue colors with a couple of stupid engineering motto stickers on the right side. When you open it you will find the letters 'A', 'Y', and 'J' scratched off from use."

If possible, more of Belén's color had been drained from her face. Her eyes were glistening with the tears she thought had already been wasted.

"I think we can both agree that this was, indeed, Rayan Palayta's laptop," Plasticine finished in such a casual tone. "Now, if you're willing to listen - as it is is getting darker out and it's Christmas - I should like to get this moving along. Will you listen?"

"Y-yes," Belén managed to sputter.

"Now you always think he was involved in an accident but the truth was he was _taken_ , _kidnapped_."

"But no one ever called in for a ransom…"

"Who said they were looking for a ransom?" Plasticine made a face. "Kidnapping doesn't always happen for a ransom. Your brother was taken for other reasons."

"How do you know all this?" Belén tried not to sound as desperate as she really was. She was tired of so much obscurity.

"Because he told me," Plasticine answered coldly/ "He had something that a band of robbers wanted."

"But what?" Belén looked between the two, demanding to know. "What the hell could they have wanted from-" she stopped midway.

 _'Because he is not the same anymore'_

Belén's head snapped to Plasticine, her body completely freezing. "Rayan...is a metahuman…"

~ 0 ~

In S.T.A.R. Labs, everything was ready to go to catch the famous man in yellow. Joe and Eddie, who had come after a terse conversation with Joe, along with the newest Anti-Flash task force, were set in place down in the 'trap room'. A trap had been set for the man in yellow and would hopefully keep him barred inside. In the cortex room, Caitlin, Cisco and Dr. Wells were attentively watching the security cameras from their computers.

"Okay. Sending out another pulse," Cisco announced before doing so.

"Are you certain this trap will work?" Joe's voice rang from the speakers.

"I've sent up at least three charges into open satellite. if anyone's looking tachyonic particles, they'll know we got them."

They stared for another couple of minutes and then suddenly there was a blur...and the man in yellow was trapped inside the barrier.

"Let's see what we caught," Wells looked at his employees with a wide smile.

~ 0 ~

"Rayan's a metahuman! He's a _metahuman_!" Belén paced back and forth. "He's got to be! That's what you meant didn't you?" she stopped to violently point at Azul. "My brother's a metahuman and that's what you meant!"

"Your brother is alive," Azul smiled, and for a second Belén thought it was an honest one.

"But why _why_ didn't he come to me?" Belén walked up to Plasticine, her hands balled into fists.

"It's complex," Plasticine said kindly. "You wouldn't understand-"

"Try me!"

"I can't, because your associations are completely wrong."

"Again with that!" Belén thrust her hands up and stormed away. "What in the hell does that _mean_?" Plasticine exchanged looks with Azul. Belén put her arms down, her eyes looking over one then another. "Why would he...know you?" she whispered, but the answer she was already assuming made her stomach churn with dread.

~ 0 ~

"Cisco, lights," Dr. Wells ordered the moment he and the other officers spread across the trap room. From the cortex, Cisco flicked on the lights to reveal the vibrating body of the man in yellow. "Detective Thawne, would you like to read him his rights?"

Eddie was taking up a spot, his eyes glued to the mysterious man ahead. He saw Joe getting closer to the barrier. "Joe, what are you doing?"

"Getting some answers," Joe said quietly before addressing the prisoner. "14 years ago, you murdered Nora Allen. I want to know why. Why?"

Reverse Flash ignored him as he walked up to the wall of his new prison. "Dr. Wells, we meet at last," he spoke with his modulated voice.

"What do you want with the tachyonic particles?" Wells, in turn, ignored that and starred with business.

"My goals are beyond your understanding."

"Oh, I don't know, I'm a pretty smart guy. I knew you were exceptionally fast, so any trap we manufactured would have to be invisible. I knew your cells could repair themselves at extraordinary speeds, so you could withstand the damage this is doing to your body right now. The reason I know all this is because your powers are almost exactly like those of The Flash."

Perhaps if his figure had been clear, there would have been a smirk across his mouth. "Oh, I'm not like The Flash at all. Some would say I'm the reverse."

~ 0 ~

Belén was near tears again. "Why has my brother not come home? Why has he chosen you-" she gestured to both Plasticine and Azul "-as company? A murderer and a...well, I'm sure you're no good either."

Azul scoffed in return. "Your brother sees things how they truly are. We were not born this way, someone made us like this."

Belén's lips thinned as she suppressed the urge to cry. "You're evil...as are you…" she glanced at Plasticine. "It only leaves so much to think about."

"Do not insult me when you have no idea what I've gone through," Plasticine snapped, sounding close to tears herself. "You should know what it is losing people you love. We were happy in our own lives and then some stupid machine turned us into this!" She raised both her arms and for a second both her hands turned into a purple blob of mass. "You think this is how I wanted to live?"

"But you don't have to live like this," Belén said matter-of-factly. "Look at the Flash. He's using his powers to help people-"

"Why would we help people who so easily turn backs on our kind?" Azul demanded, looking angry. "They call us many things like we _asked_ to be turned into this."

"You're both hurt, obviously, but if you would allow S.T.A.R Labs to help you…"

"We don't want their help!" Plasticine shouted. "If anything, S.T.A.R Labs needs to be brought down."

"Don't say that-"

"They made me like this. They broke my family," Plasticine's voice shook. "Why would I ever let them help me?"

Belén stared with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "Tell me my brother doesn't think that too," she whispered.

"See, this is why he needed to come," Azul spoke to Plasticine as if Belén wasn't standing in their presence. "We're just making him look bad."

"There is nothing wrong with Rayan," snapped Plasticine before facing Belén again. "He was stopped and kidnapped by thieves who thought they could use his powers for their own crimes. They kept him as a prisoner, barely fed, and in such awful living conditions. Months he spent living worse than a rat would. He wasn't even allowed one measly phone call just to tell his family he was fine. He didn't even want to escape anymore, he was willing to bargain writing a little text while being monitored. But those thieves wanted nothing more than his brains. So they used him, and used him, and used him. He had done nothing wrong and yet these people felt entitled to use his powers for their own special needs. So one day, he cracked. Blame him, I dare you."

Belén stared with shiny eyes.

Plasticine's ferocity died as she glanced towards Azul. "We should go. Belén has much to think about." Belén felt like a child under her tensed look. "You are being watched by your brother, and he wishes nothing more than to see you again. Come to the right side. Your family awaits."

Belén was confused, overly confused...and terribly angry. She didn't care what Plasticine nor Azul were doing afterwards. She ran away from them, as fast as she could.

~ 0 ~

The barrier holding the Reverse Flash faltered and out of the blue he had sped out, grabbed Dr. Wells, and threw him into the barrier. He sped back inside and proceeded to punch, kick, and repeatedly throw Wells all around.

"Cisco, turn off the barrier!" Joe shouted and backtracked to one of the tool tables.

"If I turn it off, that thing's gonna get out!" Cisco's panicked voice responded via the speakers.

Joe grabbed a large silver wrench from a table and headed for the controls of the barrier. "Cisco, he's gonna kill Wells!" He smashed the machine over and over till the barrier was turned off.

The man in yellow sped off leaving a bloody, beaten Wells on the floor.

"Find him!" Eddie ordered the other policemen. There was only a minute to spare before the man reappeared. Eddie brought his gun up, albeit shaking a little. "Don't move, or we will shoot."

Reverse Flash sped through the officers, killing them within seconds. He came face to face with Eddie but then shoved him to the side and went for Joe.

He pinned him against the broken machine control. "I warned you not to hunt me."

Barry, as the Flash, sped in and took the man with him out of the building. Seeing them through the security feed outside, Cisco and Caitlin rushed out as well. They came out in time to see Barry been thrown straight into a car's front window. The Reverse Flash grabbed him so easily and resumed fighting in the parking lot. As much as Barry tried he could not get much punches through. The Reverse Flash gave a last punch that stumbled Barry back. He seized Barry's wrist, producing a proper 'crack!' as he broke the wrist, and kicked him hard. Barry fell on his back on the ground. The Reverse Flash walked forwards, with the intention of finishing the fight already. However, a few inches from Barry, he was engulfed by a burst flames. With the force he was pushed to the ground, unable yet to see Ronnie Raymond coming.

When the flames finished, the Reverse Flash picked himself up. "Our race is not yet done. See you soon, Flash." He sped off.

Cisco ran to help Barry while Caitlin rushed to meet Ronnie. Ronnie grunted and stepped away from her. "Don't look for me again." His flames encased him and he used them to fly off, leaving the chaotic scene behind.

~ 0 ~

Dr. Wells was now being treated for his wounds and cuts by Caitlin. Cisco stood off to the side looking through all information about their barrier.

"I've been going over the data, and I still don't know why the containment system failed. I must have missed something. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Cisco. But if you both feel the need to apologize for something, you might start with the not telling me that Ronnie is still alive." Wells gave hard looks at both of them.

"I asked Cisco not to say anything," Caitlin immediately explained so that Cisco wouldn't get any scoldings. "Once I saw what Ronnie had become, I needed... I needed time to see if I could make him whole again. I'm sorry. I know you're mad."

"No. I don't know what I would have done differently in your situation. I know I have made you a lot of promises. I know I've not been able to keep them all. But on my life, I promise you this... We will bring Ronnie home."

Caitlin smiled softly, feeling a little more relaxed now that there would be a better conducted search for her fiancée.

~ 0 ~

When Joe finished messy paperwork with Eddie, he went upstairs to see how Barry was doing. The young metahuman was sitting on a chair holding a snow globe of the London tower.

"Hey, Bare…"

"You know my mom traveled around the world twice?" Barry asked without yet looking up. "She spent a semester abroad in Spain, and she loved it so much that after she graduated, she went to Europe. Didn't stop till she'd been to a few dozen other cities. She always wanted to go back, but she never got a chance."

Joe pulled up a stool and sat in front of him. "I offered to send you abroad when you were in college."

"Yeah, I know. I remember. I... I couldn't take off. I mean, the truth is I'm stuck here... in Central City," Barry admitted freely, his father's words coming back to mind. "Fear has kept me in that living room for 14 years. Joe, I... I was mad at you for being scared. But I mean, the truth is I was the one that was scared. I've been afraid of the man in yellow for my whole life. That's why I lost."

"When you first moved in with us, I thought it was gonna be too much. I'm already a single dad. Finances were tough. And you were a little boy who just lost his mother. But, man, was I wrong." Joe laughed to himself. "Within two weeks, you had changed the whole dynamic of the house. Suddenly, the house was filled with this...light..this energy. I mean, you brightened up everything. You'd seen more darkness than any man will in a lifetime, and you never let it dim your soul. So there I was, thinking that I'm changing your life by taking you in, but...the truth is...you changed mine. So don't lose that light now, Bare. The world may need The Flash, but... I need my Barry Allen."

By that time they both had tears in their eyes, and the only thing left was to hug each other.

"Let's go home," Joe gestured the way out.

"Yeah," Barry nodded, following him out.

~ 0 ~

Coming home to the West residence and finding all your friends already there was certainly something Barry hadn't expected. Caitlin stood up from the couch to greet them.

"Hey!"

"Oh. Hey. What are you guys doing here?" Barry asked, looking past her to Iris - sitting on Eddie's lap - and Cisco on the phone.

"I invited them," Joe explained and dropped his jacket on the table. "Where's Dr. Wells and Belén?"

"Uh..." Caitlin glanced back at Cisco who was re-dialing by the looks of it. "Dr. Wells wasn't feeling up to a social gathering, but he appreciated the invitation. And," her voice lowered, "we can't really locate Belén. Cisco's been trying to call nonstop."

"She left her house earlier in the day," Iris said, still feeling guilty she hadn't been much help to her friend. "I don't think she's in a mood for celebration."

Barry frowned and looked towards Cisco who was looking more irritated by the second. He realized too that he had not seen Belén since the funeral...early in the morning. Caitlin's previous warning then flashed through his mind.

What if Belén had done the same thing she done months ago and left without saying a word? For some reason, he panicked.

~ 0 ~

Belén swiped off a whole set of decorations off a table and dumped them into a box. She then pulled on the lights of the Christmas tree enough to tear it down to the floor. With loud sniffles, she walked up to the front window and seized the ends of the green wreaths. With all her might she pulled them down, causing part of the curtain holder to come down with it. She brought all of that into the same box.

The knocking on the front door did nothing to stop her.

She began to take down the next set of Christmas lights adorning the windows and let it all fall into the box. Spotting the wooden nutcracker on the shelf of a bookcase she crossed the living room and threw it into the box.

The knocking on her front door became incessant.

Belén exasperatedly groaned, glaring a minute at the door but essentially letting it go. She felt her insides burning with anger when she remembered everything she'd learned today. It was not easier to face her father's reminders when she knew now how bad her brother had fallen.

She spotted the blinking Christmas angels sitting in a perfect row and stalked towards them. She picked one up and stared at it for a long minute. It was a terribly-made angel by none other than Rayan. She remembered how long he'd worked on it and how badly she laughed at it when they were younger. It had gone up every Christmas as a homage to one of his early creations.

Newfound anger crashed over her like a wave.

She suddenly threw the angel across the room, letting it smash to pieces against the wall.

Without much thinking, she grabbed the next angel and threw it in the same direction. However, it didn't make it to its destination because Barry had caught it. Belén wasn't even surprised he'd just sped right in.

"Go home," she muttered and turned her back on him. She continued dumping in the rest of the angels into the box.

"What are you doing?" Barry took notice of the living room's state. Half of the Christmas decorations were already packed and it didn't look like she would be stopping.

"It doesn't matter, go home," Belén repeated, sharper.

"Cisco says he's been trying to call you for hours now-"

"My phone's off-"

"Cisco said that. Want to explain why?"

"No, clearly."

There was a pause and Barry sighed, lowering the star in his hand. "I see you've been moving in the grief cycle...again..."

"Shut up," Belén said, sounding like she was imploring him so. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands had found her temples again. "Please, just go home. Tell everyone I'm sorry but I can't…"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where've you been all day," Barry put the star down on a table and, for effect, loudly positioned himself behind the couch, clearly waiting for her to turn around and talk. "I've got all night, so…"

Belén slowly lowered her hands, and glanced over her shoulder. "Finding out the truth," she uttered in a low voice.

"Come again?"

"I've been finding out the truth about my dear brother."

There was a strange feeling that told Barry he was going to regret asking for further details, but he ignored them. "H-how did you…"

"I've been with Plasticine and Azul. We talked all afternoon and...and they told me more or less what I apparently needed to learn."

Yup, Barry regretted it.

"Are you mad!?" he exclaimed. "How could you have put yourself in such a dangerous situation!? Belén we went over this for God's sake!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Belén turned around, her face streaming with fresh new tears. "They offered me the truth I've been so desperately looking for!"

"They took advantage of your pain to feed you lies!"

"Plasticine knows my brother, and well, by the looks of it. I don't know what relationship they have but they know each other, and they're in contact. Don't stand there and give me that look," she scowled. "You would do anything to make justice for what happened to your mother, why shouldn't I do the same for my brother and father?"

Although earnestly upset with her, Barry had no words that would defend him. Of course he would want to do anything to capture the Reverse Flash - hell, he wanted to do that today and he failed. He couldn't blame Belén for doing the same thing, no matter how angry it made him feel knowing those two had taken advantage of her. Because that's exactly why they'd chosen this moment to appear before her. There was no other explanation.

Belén looked away from him. "I'm fine, alright? They didn't harm me - they don't want to."

"Yeah, but you can't be sure of that," Barry shook his head.

"I am," Belén reaffirmed, her eyes snapping on him. "I don't understand what they want from me exactly, but they want me to come willingly."

"Or they're just tricking you-"

"It doesn't matter! They told me what happened with Rayan, how he was taken by a band of thieves because he's…" the lump in her throat forced her to stop mid-sentence.

"He's what?" Barry asked, assuming the worst.

"A-a...metahuman," Belén sputtered out, having to cover her mouth soon after. "And I'm so scared of what's he's been doing all this time…"

The news was quite a shocker that Barry had to stand there a moment and replay it several times just to be sure he'd heard right. Of course, Belén's sobs was a huge voucher that he had heard right.

"He was tortured, and abused for his abilities…" Belén sat herself down on the couch, "And no one helped him. Now he's a metahuman and...and he's doing all the wrong things."

"We don't know that, so put away those thoughts," Barry had recomposed himself for her sake and hurried to her side. "If he's a metahuman then he's probably scared, unable to understand what's happened-"

"No," Belén sniffed. "Rayan can be anything you want but he's not stupid - he was a full blown genius, my opposite actually."

"Bells," Barry tilted his head at her, meaning to gently scold her.

"He was smart okay," Belén amended her fault and sighed, wiping away some tears off her cheeks. "He understands that he has powers, and that he can use them. It's just _how_ he's been using them that scares me. My Dad did _not_ raise us for him to become an evil metahuman. He had good values that he instilled in both of us."

Barry glanced at the disastrous living room, slowly understanding its purpose. "You think your brother's new act reflects how your father raised you?"

"After my parents divorced Rayan and I were still under age, and my Dad took full custody of us. My mother, being a policewoman, said she couldn't handle both of us as teens but my Dad didn't care what he worked at. He was there, always. As we got older, my Dad started leaving Rayan and I home alone more often but he was always sure that he had provided us with the best of values to ensure we would be fine on our own. Well, my brother's out there alone and he's not proving himself to be my father's son. It's been up to me and I haven't brought him in to rehabilitate him? What kind of daughter does that make me?"

She sniffed and looked a crumbled bauble near the living room table. Barry stared at her a couple minutes, trying to understand how she could have come to this conclusion. But he really couldn't.

"I don't think your Dad would be happy to see you like this," he went in a different direction. "Because I'm sure that somewhere along your years, he taught you that what one sibling did was not your responsibility. Everyone is old enough now to make their choices. You are not responsible for whatever Rayan has chosen to do."

"But he's my brother!"

"Yes, and the only responsibility you have is to try and lead him into a good path - you can't force him, though. You can't feel like you've failed your father, that's not what he had wanted."

Belén shook her head, letting a couple more tears roll from her eyes. "Look, I...appreciate you coming and talking with me, but it's just too much right now. I can't keep it up."

"We can talk about it later," Barry beamed as he thought of an idea. "Everyone is at Joe's and Iris' right now - and there's more eggnog. How about we go by?"

Belén shook her head again. "No, I don't want to put anyone else down. It took me forever to send my Mom to her hotel. Thank God Maritza had already left when I came back because she's a hard one to fight."

"It's not exactly a celebration we're having, it's more of a pretty bittersweet Christmas," Barry made a face, something that confused Belén.

"What do you mean?"

"You know the trap we built for the, uh...Reverse Flash, I guess," Barry rolled his eyes at the stupid name, "It failed. And Dr. Wells was hurt, and the tachyons were stolen. He's still out there."

"Barry, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"We're catching him one way or another," Barry made the vow. "But right now, I want to be with my family and friends. Please?"

Third time's the charm phrase went out the window when Belén refused again. "I think Christmas has become a taboo for me too now," she gestured to the living room's current state. "Right now, Mom is at her hotel working like any other day, and Maritza is back at her place doing the same thing, or sleeping. I know my Dad disliked Christmas too, and now with him gone...I can't…"

Barry's eyes flickered to the side as he thought of his last idea. With a sudden smirk at her, he zoomed out of the house. The wind left behind made Belén's hair blow behind her shoulders. He returned to his spot mere seconds after, wearing a wide grin across his lips. He held something behind his back.

"Where did you-"

"Close your eyes," he instructed.

"Barry, what's-"

"Just do it, please?"

With a small sigh, Belén obeyed and shut her eyes. She felt her hands being turned over and something being placed upon her palms. It was a box, that much she could tell.

"Open them," Barry said a moment later. When Belén did, she found an rectangular, blue gift with a silver, silk ribbon over the lid. "It's your present, and I'd like for you to open it right now."

"Presents," Belén whispered to herself. "I forgot to buy the presents…"

"It's fine, don't worry. Just open this one!" Barry insisted, and he looked far too much excited for Belén to deny.

Still mildly confused, she pulled off the lid to reveal two slips of paper. Looking at them closely, she saw they were _tickets_. "What's…?" she picked one up and read the title, her eyes widening instantly. "These are tickets for the Dream…"

"It's an aerial dance team that's doing a show in a couple weeks," Barry explained quickly, his smile faltering slightly due to her reaction. "I thought, you know, since you said you were once a dancer and that you miss it...maybe you would like to go to a show. You Dad actually helped me get these."

"My Dad helped you?" Belén's voice quivered with newfound emotions.

"He directed me to this one, actually, thought you would love it."

The exhalement from her lips made Barry fear that perhaps he hadn't done a good job in this present. She put the ticket back into the box along with its other companion and paused.

"Do you know why he directed you this precise team?"

"Um…"

"Because I always keep an eye out on the Dream - that's capital 'D' by the way," Belén said quietly. "This team, this one that you chose…" she began to smile, and suddenly everything felt better for Barry as he saw this, "...it's my old team, Barry. I used to dance with them."

Barry's eyes went wide, his mouth partially opening. "A-are you...are you ki…"

Belén's smile grew as she closed the box. "The Dream - I was their lead dancer. I loved everyone there, and my Dad was always at my shows, first row. He picked out the right team for you."

"It's a gift from both of us," Barry slowly recovered from the shocking news. "Actually, the reason I got two tickets was because I envisioned you two going and reliving happy moments."

Tears glistened in her eyes again, but this time Barry was sure they were happy tears. "I love this," she declared. "Thank you," she lunged forwards to give him a tight hug.

"Merry Christmas, Bells," Barry hugged her back. "I hope you're more open to coming back with me to the others?" Belén pulled away, looking at him reluctantly. "They're worried, and it's Christmas. No one should spend it alone."

"I…" Belén moved back to her spot, looking at the mess. "...can I have more eggnog?" she asked so innocently that Barry laughed.

"Yes, you can!"

Belén got up with a tight smile, still appearing mildly reluctant. "Okay, but...let me get a quick change. Don't go anywhere?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Barry promised, and he watched her hurry to the staircase. Left alone he got up and took a good look at the mess Belén caused. He felt it deserved better. So, he began speeding around the place and re-organizing everything. When he heard footsteps coming down the staircase, he stopped and looked at his work all nicely finished.

"Wow," he heard Belén's amazed voice. "You cleaned up for me. Thank you."

"Oh you know, I think the house deserves some Christmas decorations," Barry turned to her, momentarily stunned by her change of looks.

If anyone looked at her now they could not have guessed that twenty minutes ago she'd been sobbing and throwing things around. Her knotted hair had been untangled and mildly curled. Her ragged funeral clothes had been exchanged for a thick, red crop sweater with a high neck, tucked underneath a leather black skirt. In red flats with black tights, she walked into the living room. Her lips were painted in a bright shade of red that showed off a pearly white teeth.

It was Barry's turn to be amazed. "W-wow…"

Belén laughed, trying to brush off her blush. "I'm ready."

"Yeah, you are," Barry quickly shook his head, sputtering an apology afterwards that had made Belén laugh again. "Let's just go," he resolved before he did something else stupid. He had barely reached for her when she gasped at something behind him.

Without saying a word, she reached past him and grabbed the Christmas tree star she'd left on the coffee table. Studying it a moment, she glanced at the tree and walked towards it. She raised both her arms and attempted to place it at the top of the tree herself. This was precisely why her father had always done it in place of her.

Barry saw the struggle and came after a moment. "May I?" he motioned his help. Belén gave him a nod and so he put an arm around her waist while the other went around her shoulders. He lifted her the enough amount for her to be able to put the star over the tree.

Afterwards, she went to the electricity outlet and plugged in the Christmas tree lights, causing the star to flash a brilliant white. Stepping back to look at it, she breathed in shakily, feeling a wave of tears rushing up to her eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy," she whispered with the littlest of smiles, but a genuine nonetheless.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yowzah this was a monster chapter to write and edit! But a good one nonetheless! Let me know what you guys thought! :)

 **For the Review:**

Hey! Thanks so much! Yeah that wasn't my favorite part to write but oh well . But I hope you liked this new chapter! :)


	14. Shackles of Bonds

' _Nobody move! I mean it!'_

' _Please, d-don't hurt-"_

" _Yeah, yeah, 'don't hurt me, please' I've heard the story , I don't have time for this - put the money in here-" there was a gesture of a bag,"-or then I will stuff you with this."_

 _A massive blob of purple shot straight through the glass display at the entrance of the store, causing several people to scream._

" _Money. Now."_

Belén clicked pause on the video and thought for a minute of what she'd watched. Her eyes scanned every person in the convenience store looking for just one person...but came up short.

" _I SAID SHUT UP!" Plasticine was fed up with the relentless whimpers and pleads from the people in the store. Out of frustration, she shot yet another purple hit across the store. It hit the wall and splattered everything nearby. Turning her perfectly covered face to the cashier, she waited for the money to be deposited in the brown bag she was holding out. "Hurry up, hurry up," she leaned forwards to see how much was already in the bag. "Oh, look at that, I got what I needed - thank you." With a big smile she made her escape._

Belén switched to the next video and proceeded to watch yet another robbery from Plasticine. However, when someone knocked on the bedroom door she quickly shut her laptop thinking it was Iris. Joe had already been kind enough to let her stay in his home, the least she could do was keep his wish of leaving Iris out of anything metahuman related.

"Bells, hey," Barry peeked through, looking almost afraid of what he'd find inside.

Belén waved him off and grabbed her laptop again. "You know you don't actually have to knock right? This is _your_ room after all."

Barry fully stepped into what used to be his bedroom in the West house. For the last couple of weeks, Belén had taken it as a guest room until she felt well enough to return home knowing her father wasn't going to be there anymore. "I'd rather knock and avoid...certain situations," Barry cleared his throat. If it were any other moment, she would have laughed. Nowadays, she only gave a look of silence. "Listen, Dr. Wells thinks it's a good idea to start, you know, maybe training a little more? Now with, well…" he didn't want to outright say 'the man in yellow' in case she would take it even worse than he did when he was younger.

"I said no the first time, and the second time, and...yeah, the tenth time," Belén sighed. She kept the videos on her laptop mute but kept a close eye on the screen for the person she was searching or. "I don't...I can't be out there again…"

"Why not?" Barry thought it was a stupid question but it was worth it if she just talked again. None of them had had such luck in getting the old Belén back. It became tougher when she refused to use her powers and go to STAR Labs altogether.

"I'm sorry, I just can't," Belén shook her head.

"You know we can't help you if you don't tell us how you feel…"

"But that's just it, I don't know...I don't…" she looked frustrated, and so she closed her eyes and exhaled. "When you were little, and your mom's...murder happened...how did you feel?"

There were many words that came to Barry's mind then, but he settled for the one that he knew she was probably going through. "Helpless."

"Yeah, because you were a kid, and you had no way to help," Belén opened her eyes again. "Now, my Dad was murdered and I'm an adult, have powers, am more or less smart, yet I can't do a single thing to help. I don't want to say that my problem is greater than yours because it's not but I feel completely and utterly helpless right now."

"Well, see, this is why you need to come to STAR Labs with me," Barry walked up to the bed and took a seat on the side near her. "We can practice and then-"

"I can't," she refused again. "I can't even dream to catch that man. I'm not fast and I don't think my powers are good enough to go against him. If I can't use them to help you catch this guy, why use them at all? What's the point?"

 _What an awful way to think_ , thought Barry. If he said that out loud the conversation would spiral into an argument and that was the last thing he wanted. He understood anger manifested itself differently in people, and this was apparently how Belén handled it. Well, it was better than him who punched walls and people, but he still didn't like it on her.

"You're Dad wouldn't want this, Bells…"

"Yeah, well, my dad's dead so I don't think it matters what he wanted."

Barry could see this was a lost cause at the moment. There were moments where Belén seemed to be on a much more cheery mood, but then there were these days where she hit...low. It was a process, and that's what everyone around her thought. All they had to do was just help her throughout it.

"What are you doing?" he noticed she was too delved into her laptop screen at the moment.

Her eyes briefly looked into his then quickly returned to the screen. "Just...something..." She glanced at him again and felt the rush of guilt fill her up again. She understood that at the moment she was being difficult - with everyone - and yet they all showed her the utmost patience. She turned her laptop over for Barry to see the current video which was yet again of Plasticine in the middle of another heist. "Felicity hooked me up with like every footage possible of Plasticine robbing."

"You want to catch her badly, then..." Barry mumbled. He hadn't been sure where Belén was in her brother's case and he hadn't touched the subject knowing it was still too soon to even talk about.

"I...I don't know, honestly," Belén admitted and turned the laptop back to her. "I just want to know if my brother's been with her in any of the thefts she's committed. So far, only Azul and that Pixel chick have aided her on occasions."

"That's...good?"

Belén sighed. "I honestly have no idea. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but...right now, I just...I need to know if he's been out there doing crimes like any other bad meta we've seen."

Barry nodded. "If you need anything on that, you know we're here for you."

"Yeah, I know," she went back to her laptop, indicating in her own way that the conversation was over.

Not wanting to push, Barry let it be and got up from the bed. "If you need anything, just ask, okay?"

Belén's face softened as she recalled something that had been nagging her for days now. "Wait," she stopped him midway to the door, "There _is_...one thing.. I've been meaning to ask…"

"Okay," Barry turned back, "Anything you need," he could tell this was something important judging by her constant shifting and fiddling fingers.

"Well, I don't know if it's important - well, it's important to _me_ \- but I don't know if it would be important to you or anyone -"

"If it's important to you, it's important to me," Barry clarified at once. He came back to her side. "What is it?"

Belén opened her mouth several times, but nothing came out. She stuck her index finger's nail between her teeth and slowly began to explain. "You know the, uh, the, um...the present you gave me for Christmas?"

"Yeah?"

"It's tomorrow night...and…I know it's... _way_ late but..." Belén gave a light shrug as if that would explain everything she couldn't say.

"You don't want to go anymore?" Barry guessed. Iris had been telling him of her constant failed attempts to get Belén out of the house. He'd already assumed a while ago that his gift would become one of those failed attempts to get out.

"Not exactly that…" she gave a sheepish smile, "I...don't want to go...alone. See, you're the one that...that gave me the present, and...my Dad...he helped you…" she took in a small breath before beginning over again, "It would really mean a lot...if you came with me."

"Oh," Barry's eyebrows raised up in surprise.

"It's just...it would feel like a last connection to my Dad, you get me?" Belén found it hard to explain without making it awkward. She felt her face warm but she pushed through - this was important to her. "You both worked on it together and…" her courage faded in a snap and she shook her head, "What am I saying. You don't want to go to that."

"No, it's fine - I'd love to!" Barry exclaimed, although somewhat blushing himself.

Belén visibly relaxed upon hearing his answer. "Really? Because...because you don't have to. I know it's kinda weird but…"

"I understand, don't worry," Barry assured. He reached for her hand and gave her a smile.

~ 0 ~

"Wait a minute, she asked you out on a date?" Cisco arched an eyebrow, a wide smirk settling across his lips.

Caitlin, who was coming around with fresh new papers for their training session, smacked Cisco upside the head and ignored his cry of pain. "She did _not_ , weren't you listening?" She put the papers down on the table beside Dr. Wells, who was also shaking his head at Cisco. "Barry," she said after a moment, looking a bit anxious suddenly as she looked over to the metahuman finishing up his soda, "You _do_ know that's not a date right?" she asked cautiously.

Barry had told them of Belén's current situation of the day and couldn't help sharing her request with them either. To answer Caitlin's question, he gave a firm nod. "I know that, Cait."

"Good," Caitlin visibly relaxed. "Because I think this is very important for Bells. This is her last connection to her father and it would be incredibly inappropriate for you to even _think_ about-"

"You don't have to finish that, Caitlin," Dr. Wells interrupted, missing Barry's grateful glance towards him. "I think Barry understands quite well the situation Miss Palayta is in."

"I do," assured Barry. "I figure this is a way to start getting her back on her feet."

"She still refuses to come to STAR Labs?" Cisco inquired.

"Greatly," Barry said, adding afterwards with great discord, "She says if she can't help catch the man in yellow then why use her powers at all?"

"That's horrible," Caitlin made all face.

"Yet quite understandable," Dr. Wells said. "It's a normal reaction to a situation like this one. We only have to help her realize that people need her. Like Barry, she has the quality that makes her susceptible to helping anyone despite her own situations. She will come around, just give her some time."

The group felt a little more confident after hearing Wells' words. Being an expert he had to know what he was talking about, right?

"In the meantime, I need to do this again," Barry got up from his chair, motioning to the training area ahead of them. "I need to be ready for the man in yellow next time."

"I think you mean the reverse-Flash," Cisco said quite proudly, and when everyone gave him looks he rolled his eyes. "He said it, not me. And he's right. Yellow suit, red lightning, and evil... the reverse of Barry."

Caitlin made another face and turned to the computers. "Meh."

Wells gave a short smile of amusement as he admitted, "Actually, I kind of like it." Cisco beamed and shot Caitlin a smug look.

"All right, I'm still ready for another round," Barry started making way for his suit. "How many more drones do you have left?"

Cisco went in the opposite direction for the remaining drones. "Two. And they've got lasers."

"No," flatly went both Caitlin and Wells.

~ 0 ~

"So listen," Iris cautiously began as she sat beside Belén on the couch, both deciding - with Iris leading by about 40% - to have a movie night, "I was thinking we could maybe go tomorrow night to the little music fest the city's having down at the park?" Belén was midway through opening her mouth when Iris quickly jumped in, fearing her idea would be shot down like many others had been prior. "It doesn't even have to be for a full hour! We can just go, see how many free meals we can get by batting our eyes at the guys selling. It's just all about being out there. So, what do you say? I heard there was gonna be some of that lemon pie…" she nudged Belén with a knowing smile. "I know it's one of your favorites…"

Belén tugged on the blanket Iris had brought down for them, lightly smiling as she said back, "I can't."

Iris, assuming it was another failed attempt to uplift her friend, began to add on more reasons for Belén to agree. "There's going to be music, and lots of food - and did I mention pie?"

"No, Iris, I mean I can't go for real. I have other plans."

"Oh," Iris blinked, wondering for a moment if she had already gotten Belén to agree to a different event and just forgot about it.

Belén could see how stumped Iris was and decided to make it easier by explaining. "Tomorrow's the date for the aerial dancing show, remember? I'm going to use the tickets Barry gave me for Christmas."

"Oh you're going!? That's wonderful!" Iris beamed and hugged Belén until she realized something important. "Hold on," she pulled away to suspiciously look at Belén, "You said tickets in plural. Who are you going with? Can't be me, I've got a shift at Jitters."

Belén dreaded her answer but saw no way to get out of it. "I asked Barry if he would come with me." Iris bit on her tongue to keep in the first thing that popped into her mind. But her growing smirk said it all. Belén sighed and looked straight at the movie, her thin pajamas suddenly becoming like an extra layer of heat. "It's _not_ a date, Iris West, so you better not even start."

"I'm not…" Iris reached for a couple popcorn on the coffee table.

"I asked him because he was the one who gave me the tickets in the first place," Belén continued, clearing her throat. "And because I know my father helped in that and I want...that connection...to live on. It's important to me."

Iris could see it was and so, for once, kept away all her teasing. But the smirk on her lips didn't go away. She leaned back on the couch, holding her last piece of popcorn as she watched the movie. "You gotta at least let me help you get ready tomorrow night."

Belén considered the idea for a minute, looked down at her messy hair, picked at a strand and shrugged. "My hair could use a little toning up."

As Iris laughed with triumph, Belén smiled to herself while sporting a light pink blush on her cheeks.

~ 0 ~

The following morning had been taken up by an odd case of breaking into a garage of prestigious cars covered under white sheets. Barry found the garage door had been frozen by none other than a freeze gun, making it easy for the thief to break in. The odd case was that no cars were stolen. Everything was in its place as it should be, thus allowing for the conclusion that the break-in had been more of a trap for the Flash. Knowing this, Barry rushed to STAR Labs to explain to the others so they could get working on a plan.

"Captain Cold is back?" Cisco was still in mild shock. The last time they'd met the man it had been a close call. If it had not been for Belén, their plan of using a vacuum as a gun would have failed and they would have died...

"For a non-metahuman, Leonard Snart is proving to be quite the nemesis," Dr. Wells remarked, although not entirely surprised to hear Snart was back.

"He still has the cold gun, the one he stole from us, the one I built," Cisco reminded glumly.

"Well, what does he want this time?" Caitlin asked from Barry.

"The Flash," he frowned. "If Snart wants a fight with the Flash, then I'll give him one."

He was so sure of it until Wells swayed his head. "Well…"

"You don't think I should?"

"I didn't say that," Wells clarified, "But, Barry, as fast as you are, you cannot be everywhere at once. And it becomes then a question of priorities. Now, in the last month, you have made a commitment to increasing your speed, enhancing your reflexes, and it's working. You're finally getting faster."

"Okay, but what am I supposed to do, just ignore Snart?"

"We could always ask Bells," Cisco reminded quietly, unsurprised to see the round of shaking heads st him.

"Not a good idea," Dr. Wells was the one to say it out loud. "If Miss Palayta is not focused she will only get herself hurt and perhaps even others."

"...there is always Nina," Caitlin quietly spoke up as well.

"She's not trained enough," Barry put that idea down, mostly for the sake of Nina's safety.

"She helped take you down back when you were whammied," Caitlin then said back.

"This is not her fight, it's not Bells' either, Snart is looking for _me_ ," Barry finally said what had been behind his earlier reasoning.

"The last time you had a fight with Snart, a train derailed. You were lucky to get all those people to safety," Dr. Wells began laying out the truth as it was, "And if you don't give him that fight…"

"He may just back off, and there'll be no casualties," Barry finished in a mumble, knowing fully well that was a high possibility. It just didn't mean he liked it very much.

"Look, Barry, Cisco and I will work with Joe and the police and devise a way to catch Cold-" Wells noticed the impressed look on Cisco's face and playfully rolled his eyes, "-Yes, I said it, Cisco. As soon as it came out of my mouth, I heard it."

"Yeah, we can definitely come up with ways to neutralize Snart!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Listen, Barry. Whether or not you go after Snart, that's your choice. We here, we will do whatever we can to support you. But after this past Christmas, after the events with the reverse-Flash... I just think he poses a greater threat to all of us."

Barry gave in with a small nod. "Okay."

~ 0 ~

"We're leaving in five minutes, Belén, and that's whether or not you have shoes on!" Iris gave her last firm warning from downstairs before crossing the living room to retrieve her purse. She was worried Belén was wasting time on purpose so she wouldn't have to go out anymore. Well, Iris was not gonna have that.

Someone knocked on her front door, and rather than answer it first, she hollered up to Belén that she would be coming upstairs whether Belén was finished or not to take her to the mall. When she opened the door and found Eddie on the other side, her boyfriend was in a state of surprise.

"You realize that can qualify as kidnapping right?"

Iris rows her eyes and gave him a short kiss before letting him inside. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was gonna see if you wanted to have lunch but apparently you have other plans…" Eddie's eyes drifted towards the stairs where he assumed Belén was.

Iris apologetically smiled. "I'm sorry. I told Bells we were gonna go to the mall today and...well...sorry…?"

Eddie lightly sighed, not too surprised. "You know, if she's ready to go to the mall then I think it's high time you told her you were moving in with me."

"I've been wanting to, I promise, but...I've can't just abandon her like this," Iris trailed off, feeling like she was between the wall. She had made plans with Eddie to finally move in with him but after Belén decided to temporarily stay with her, Iris didn't have the heart to tell Belén about moving out. She knew Belén was still struggling to get back on her feet after her father's death and Iris didn't want to make her feel forced into leaving. Belén had to leave when she wanted to, when she felt ready to.

Unfortunately, this was testing Eddie's patience. He wanted to help Belén as much as possible too, but he just didn't understand why he and Iris couldn't do that while also living together. "Iris, how much longer are you going to be living here?" he asked her.

"Until Belén decides she can go back to her house," Iris answered firmly. "And then...we can move in," she smiled at him, taking his hands, "And that shouldn't be long okay? I promise."

And at that moment, they heard footsteps coming down the staircase. A minute later, Belén emerged, neatly dressed with a low pony tail behind her shoulders. "Hi, Eddie," she greeted politely.

"Hi, Belén," Eddie gave her a small hug, discreetly taking notice of how put together she was in comparison to the last time they'd seen each other. Maybe Iris was right and this wouldn't take much longer.

"What are you doing here?" Belén asked him.

"I was, uh…" Eddie faltered in coming up with an excuse fast. Thankfully, his clever girlfriend was right beside him.

"My Dad forgot something from work and Eddie was passing by for it."

"Oh, okay," Belén nodded. "I'll give you guys a moment then. Iris, I guess I'll wait outside then?"

"You bet you will," Iris pointed warningly at her. "Because we're going and that's that." Belén rolled her eyes, took her bag off the table, and went for the door. When she was gone, Iris turned back to Eddie, once again apologetically smiling. "Soon," she repeated, giving him another kiss to seal her promise.

~ 0 ~

When Barry entered his lab, he found Joe working at his desk with plenty of files spread around. "Joe, hey."

"Hey. I'm glad you're back. I've been going over Snart's files," Joe reached for a Jitters cup he had on the desk and handed it to Barry.

"Thanks. Yeah, I need to talk to you. As CSI, my work on this case is done. And as the Flash, I don't think I can focus on Snart right now."

Joe arched a questioning eyebrow. "You mind telling me what brought about this change of heart?"

"This man in yellow, the man that killed my mom, is still out there. I have to be ready to face him, which means amping up my speed. It's a question of priorities."

Something about that last sentence didn't sit well with Joe. "Your mom's killer isn't the only reason you've been doing this. You told me that if you could use your powers to save someone from a burning building, you would."

"Look, Dr. Wells and STAR Labs are gonna work with you," Barry tried to make things a little better. "Cisco thinks he has a way to protect the police against Snart's cold gun."

"Barry, I can understand if you're scared. We talked about this."

"Of course I'm scared, Joe!" Barry snapped, though regretted it a second later. He was just frustrated nothing was going right. "This guy could run into the precinct and kill everyone in here in seconds. He threatened Iris. He killed Bells' father. I won't let him hurt the most important people in my life again. If that means devoting every second I have outside this place to getting faster and to stopping him, then that's what I'm gonna do. I'm sorry. I've made up my mind."

He didn't give Joe a chance to retaliate as he left in a rush.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, Barry, come in," Iris was the one to greet at the front door. "I thought you were going to be Eddie."

"Eddie? Why?" Barry asked, mildly confused while scanning the immediate area for Belén. Her show would be starting soon, and being who he was he'd ran a little late.

"We made dinner plans," Iris closed the door behind him. "But listen, I'm glad you're here on your own cos I'm a little worried about Belén."

"What is it?"

"I'm having a little trouble getting her to come downstairs…"

But by the look on Iris' face, Barry could tell it was a little more than that. "How little?" he asked.

"She locked herself in your room."

Somehow, Barry was not surprised.

Iris shook her head, leading him towards the stairs. "She was all gung-ho until I said I'd let her borrow my purse tonight. I walked out of the room to go get said purse and when I came back, she locked herself inside! And she refuses to come out! She doesn't want to go anymore."

"We'll just see about that," Barry straightened himself up and started up the stairs.

"Please get her to go," Iris called from her spot downstairs. "Eddie's gonna be by any minute now and I just...I _really_ think this can be good for her."

"Don't worry, Iris. It'll be fine," Barry assured. He left her to go upstairs. He came up to his old bedroom door and used a vibrating hand to unlock the door.

Belén seemed to be expecting him to do something like this as she immediately threw a notebook at him from the bed. "I thought you said you would always knock."

Barry bent down to pick up the notebook that had hit him square in the chest. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." He stood back up and placed the notebook on the edge of the bed.

She was sitting on the same side of the bed, dressed in a green and blue, plaid, dress with black tights underneath. Her hair had been put into a low, side ponytail with all her curls hanging loosely. Beside the bed laid a pair of small heeled, black boots.

"You look wonderful," Barry thought it a good place to start, though he really did mean it.

"I'm not going Barry," Belén shook her head. "I'm sorry I wasted your time, I'm sorry for wasting Iris' time but I just...can't."

"You said it was important to you, remember?"

"Yes, I do, but...it's _hard_."

"Of course it is."

"I mean this is the last connection I have to my Dad. After this, I won't have anything else. I don't...I don't want that to go away."

"But if you never went, then you would lose that connection without even experiencing it." Barry came over to her side. "And your father's idea will have gone to waste. Do you want that instead?"

"...no," Belén answered meekly.

"Then, why don't we go and at least give it a chance? Don't forget that while your Dad did help _I_ was the one who had the idea. You really want to void my gift?"

"Barry Allen are you really going to guilt me into this by _pouting_ at me?"

Barry felt childish as he pouted at her but also felt quite comfortable with her. She tried upholding her look but she scrunched her nose in defeat.

"That's not fair!" she playfully growled and crossed her arms, huffing afterwards. "You can't do that to me."

"Well, you can't expect me not to try. Up, up we go!" Barry seized her hands and easily pulled her up to her feet, ignoring her groans. "C'mon!"

"No!"

"Bells, this is ridiculous, let's go before we're really late!"

"Barry, I can't!"

Barry stopped at the door and looked back at her, more or less irritated. "Why not?"

"I don't have my shoes on," Belén pointed down to her feet.

"Oh! Sorry!" Barry instantly let her go and rushed to retrieve her boots by the bed.

"I can get them on-" Belén shut her eyes at the strong gust of wind that surrounded her in the next seconds.

"Can we go now?" Barry asked after successfully putting on each boot on her feet.

"I could have put those on myself, you know," Belén said, mocking a scolding look.

"Yeah, but I'm quicker. So, can we go now?"

"I don't have much of a choice do I?"

"Nope!"

Although Belén gave a deadpanning look, Barry ignored it and went right ahead in speeding them to the theater where the Dream would be performing at. The moment Belén saw the place she gasped and froze on her spot.

"A-are you okay?" Barry worriedly asked her, looking between her and the theater which was beginning to crowd at the entrance.

"I-I just...need a moment," Belén made a gesture with her hands and turned away from the theater.

"It's okay," Barry assured her. "You just need to take it slow. You can do this."

"My Dad used to be front row..." Belén pointed back at the theater and slowly turned to face it again. "Every show I did..." but the words failed her. It brought back so many memories she had long ago buried. She had left aerial dancing because her mother told her too, and had never quite gotten over it apparently as she came to realize now. But everything was different now - her number one supporter for aerial dancing was gone and even as she went to just watch a show she could feel it was no longer the same. Her heart hurt, and her mind whizzed.

She felt something soft take her hand, snapping her from her thoughts.

"You can do it," Barry whispered to her, gently gripping her hand.

Belén felt slightly better then, without an explanation. She allowed him to lead her towards the theater, listening to his words of encouragement. Their tickets allowed them a good seat up front.

The stage was lightly colored at the moment, but its rainbow swirls were still clear enough to brighten up the dark room. Barry was all about the science, and the facts and the logistics, and what he saw that night was not logical.

It started slow and with soft pastel colors. Three female dancers appeared first, all dressed up in cream-colored one-suits with their hair tied up in high pony tails with white flowers embedded around. Different colored silks were dropped from the ceiling, two per dancer. It was unlike anything Barry had ever seen, and that was saying something considering he was the Flash who fought metahumans on a daily basis.

Silk was wrapped around ankles as the dancers swung till their feet were high in the air and their hair flung around. At one point, Belén had to hold onto Barry's arm to keep him from swooping in as the Flash because he was so sure one dancer was going to slip and fall. This was, admittedly, making it worthwhile for Belén. She loved being back in the environment she had left and it was amazing to see so many familiar people doing what they loved up on stage. Every minute or so she would get a new memory from her times up there. It made her heart swell, no longer hurting like before.

All that ran through Barry's mind, in the meanwhile, was: _Holy shit, Belén actually **did** this stuff. She **actually** got up and did this. What. The. Hell?_

Every now and then, he would literally glance at his concentrated friend and try to imagine her up on stage.

When a dancer wrapped a silk around their waist and leaned impossibly back, he wondered if Belén was capable of such flexibility. Could she sway her arms so delicately like the brunette up on stage? At one point, a dancer wrapped a green silk around one of her thighs and used it to swing down and proceeded to entwine another piece of silk over her other thigh. She swung herself again in a sitting position, opened her arms and swayed them again before completing another swing so that her head was down below. She grabbed both silk pieces on her sides and flapped them wide. The crowd 'awed' and cheered at her, and no one louder than Belén. At the end of the show, both metas were so delighted with what they saw that neither of them realized they had yet to abandon the theater and were but one of the few watchers left.

"I am so glad that we came," Belén laughed to herself as she reached for her purse. "I...I haven't been to one of these in a long time, oh my God."

"I...can't believe this is actually something _real_ ," Barry admitted, still gaping at the stage where a couple of dancers were still at. "Belén, are you sure you did this?"

Belén laughed and turned around, about to respond a full 'yes' when someone else called her name. Momentarily confused, she looked about for the source until she saw a tall blonde coming towards them from the stage.

"Mark?" she blinked, unable to really confirm it was who she thought it was under the dim lights.

"Belén? Have you really come back to us?" the blonde hopped off the stage and walked up to the two.

"Oh my God, Mark!" Belén exclaimed and immediately threw her arms around the man's shoulders.

"I thought I recognized that laughter," Mark pulled away and looked over to Barry, the latter standing awkwardly behind. "She just has a specific laugh you can't really...misplace…"

"Yeah," Barry agreed weakly, looking to Belén.

The ombre-blonde smiled, for the first time, at both of them. "Barry, this is an old friend of mine from when I was on the team."

"Hi," Mark politely shook Barry's hand. "Mark Forneez. Nice to meet you."

"Barry Allen," the meta introduced himself politely.

"Barry got me the tickets to see your show," Belén explained to Mark.

"Ah, nice move," Mark gave a knowing smile that put both receiving-enders in state of flushes.

"Christmas present, _friendly_ present…" Barry sputtered but not a complete sentence.

"Barry's one of my newest friends so he didn't really know about my past until I mentioned it," Belén tried to explain in a way that would set it clear how they were _only_ friends and that this had been just a _friendly_ present. "He thought it would be nice - and it was really nice," she made sure to tell Barry himself. "My Dad did well to give you the idea."

"Right, I heard about your father, Belén," Mark said, his voice softening as he looked at Belén. "The entire team did, actually. We're really sorry."

Belén gave a small nod and received another tight hug. "Thanks, Mark."

"If you need anything, please just let me know. You know where to find us, right?"

"Still practice in the building right?"

"Always," Mark gave her a nudge.

"Thank you, Mark."

"Well, it was nice seeing you again - nice meeting you Barry - but I have to get back and help with the clean up." Mark started backtracking when Belén called for him again.

It ashamed Barry to think it was high time for them to leave and with that leave they would put Mark behind as well. Belén looked pretty content for the first time and who was he to tear her away from it? In the end, Belén had only called Mark back for an exchange of phone numbers. Afterwards, the two were back out in the streets on the way home. It didn't take long to start feeling like normal, and Barry had _a_ _lot_ to say about the show.

Every now and then Belén would chuckle at one of his crazy comments and questions. They hadn't even thought of just speeding back to the West residence yet, too engulfed in clarifying and praising the show.

"But honestly speaking, did you really used to do that?" Barry had asked for about the fifth time, still suspiciously staring at her.

Belén swayed her head with another soft laugh. "Yes, Barry, I did. I promise."

"So you actually swung on those silks like there was no tomorrow?"

Belén had to laugh and stop to do so. She covered her mouth and looked at him. "Seriously? Like there was no tomorrow?"

Barry widely smiled, partly out of embarrassment but mostly because she was actually looking like she was having a good time. Mark was right - she had a laugh that could not be mistaken for anyone else's. He quite liked it, actually.

"A figure of speech…" Barry coughed.

"So like, _you_ basically? You run like there's no tomorrow. Does that work?"

"Yes, yes it does!"

Belén laughed again but suddenly admitted. "If you ever do doubt my word, though, there are videos of my old performances...if you'd like to see them, you know."

"I think, after seeing all that tonight, I would very much like to," Barry said with a matching smile for Belén.

"Okay," Belén couldn't think of much more to say, and she was very greatful for the darkness covering up her blush.

"Uh, we should, um...get you home," Barry gestured ahead, as if the West house was just down the block.

He was nervous, yes he was, and he wasn't quite sure why. Belén nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. He took hold of her from the side and in a second they were standing on the front porch of the Wests'.

"Thank you for the gift, Barry," Belén said quietly, still genuinely smiling. "You were right in making me come, and seeing it all, I just…" she felt her eyes shimmer with tears and, embarrassed, shook her head. "Sorry…"

"It's fine, don't you worry about it," Barry assured, hoping she wouldn't suddenly grow grim again. "I'm very glad this helped you, because we all love you Bells. And, STAR Labs does kinda miss you, you know."

"Right," Belén chuckled to herself, clearing up some of her loose tears. "I haven't seen them in forever."

"Cisco is finishing his new suit for Nina and she's not quite happy about it," Barry confided, both then laughing.

"He's not making her a skirt right? Because Nina _will_ beat the crap out of him."

Barry laughed. "Uh, no, I don't...I don't think so. But it is coming out pretty cool."

"I will think about checking it up," Belén said truthfully. She stepped forwards and kissed his cheek so suddenly it froze him in place. "Right after I look for those videos I now owe you."

"R-right," Barry nervously nodded in what he thought was an idiot kind of way. She looked so nice in front of him and all he could do was nod?

"Goodnight," Belén wiggled her fingers and turned for the door. She thought her shoes were doing a funny walk - did she forget how to walk?

As soon as Iris heard the door unlocking she turned off the television in the living room and jumped to lean on the couch. "So, how'd it go!?" she excitedly asked.

Belén smiled softly and felt, after weeks of gloominess, _good_. "It was lovely."

Iris gave her teasing smirk and warned Belén they would have to talk about it after she got some drinks for them. Belén didn't even care at the moment. She was just happy, very happy. Belén reached to push some hair back but instead spotted the ugly green patch on her wrist. Her eyes widened in horror and quickly stuffed her hand inside her coat's pocket.

She couldn't even afford to be really happy now?

 _Get it together, Belén_. No one could ever see that. Ever.

~ 0 ~

"Here, take these," Maritza handed over a couple pills to Rayan, along with a glass of a water. Maritza tried hiding her worried expressions as soon as Angie and Noah walked into the apartment.

"I don't see my sister with you," Rayan rubbed his temples, impatiently waiting for the pills to make effect on the nasty headache he had.

Noah rolled his eyes, quite used to that greeting nowadays. It was the same or each time he came. "You know, I don't understand why you don't do the same to her," he gestured to Maritza.

"She's my sister, moron, she has other things to worry about. You, on the other hand, only have this one task. So tell me, why isn't it done yet?"

"It would be easier if you just let me bring her here," Noah began the same point he always made when they got on the topic.

"She has to come willingly, we've been over this. I want her to realize this is where she belongs...with her brother and her sister."

"Oh that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Angie dropped herself on the couch across the siblings. She rested an elbow on the couch arm-rest and smirked at them. "Do you really think that goody two-shoes is going to leave her life of hero for this?" she languidly gestured to the place.

"Not to mention the fact she likes her partner," Noah added and elicited a laugh from Angie.

"Right," the blonde wagged a finger in the air.

"Is one of you about to say anything intelligent soon?" Rayan snapped.

"It's true and you know it!" Noah shut him down. "You see it too you just don't want to admit it. Your sister works with the Flash, she is probably near him more than anyone else. The way in which she defends him...c'mon!" he laughed at their ignorance. "It's obvious! The good news is, is that _she_ hasn't realize it yet or it would've been public already. Which means, there is still a chance, albeit a tiny one, but there's still one. You just had to acknowledge it and make plans _around_ it."

Angie gave him a curious glance. "That's actually smart. I think I like you now."

Noah playfully rolled his eyes at her. He pushed her elbow off the armrest to take a seat. "Thanks."

"You two are unbelievable," Maritza spat. "Belén is difficult, I know, but she's going to realize that she needs to be with us. After all, we were all affected by the stupid Particle Accelerator. Once she knows what happened to all of us, she'll understand."

"Well, unless one of you-" Noah gestured to her and Rayan, his words laced a warning, "-gets off your high and mighty thrones to do something with us, you can forget it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's time to show yourselves to her. Tell her what's going on already, then we'll know who's side she's really on."

The suggestion was troubling for both Maritza and Rayan. Rayan could only think about it so much until his head began to hurt with more force. The headaches had been coming and coming for the past months.

~ 0 ~

In STAR Labs, Caitlin searched for anything Firestorm related online. She was certainly not expecting company at the moment, considering this was something delicate.

So, when Barry came in with a polite 'hey' she gasped and jumped in her chair. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Caitlin turned her chair in his direction and smiled. "No, it's okay. I was just kind of focused."

Barry looked at the computer and saw glimpses of Firestorm articles. "Gotcha. What's firestorm?"

"It's one of the last things Ronnie said to me before he... flew away," Caitlin made a face as she realized just how that sounded. "My dead fiance can fly. I haven't broke that to my parents yet." She shook her head and then noticed the everlasting smile on Barry's face, even as he drank from a Jitters cup. "You doing okay?"

"Mm?" It appeared Barry had forgotten he was with Caitlin as he nearly choked on his coffee. He looked down at her, momentarily flushed while she knowingly smiled.

"I forgot to ask, how did it go last night with Bells?" she asked then.

"Good," Barry tried to remain casual but even he had become aware of his lasting smiles. "It went good."

Caitlin liked seeing him happy, but she felt a responsibility to remind him of the important details that pertained to last night. "Barry, you _do_ remember that it _wasn't_ a date...right?"

Barry's face immediately went red. He put his coffee down and cleared his throat, all the meanwhile Caitlin studiously stared at him. "O-of course I do, C-Caitlin! How could I forget?"

Caitlin's smile softened. "I was only reminding you. So tell me, did she like the show?"

"She loved it. It was like getting a glimpse of the old Bells."

"That is very good news," Caitlin pointed at him then turned her chair to face the computers again. "I wish I had good news like that."

"What exactly are you trying to find?" Barry leaned closer to the screens, seeing multiple articles about Firestorm.

"Just, anything about Firestorm. But, nothing comes up except gibberish," Caitlin sighed. "Like it doesn't exist."

Barry tilted his head, eyes scanning the abstracts of several articles, quickly seeing it had nothing to do with what Caitlin was looking for. "What if...what if Firestorm isn't a word?" he suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Ronnie was an engineer, you're a scientist, you're both accustomed to using acronyms for works."

Caitlin then understood what he was trying to say and started retyping. "What if Firestorm isn't a word?" She typed the acronym F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M and this time only one article popped up. She clicked on it and out came a long reading. "Fusion ignition research experiment and science of transmutation originating RNA and molecular structures." She read aloud but got to the bottom part and sheepishly looked at Barry. "It's 800 pages."

Unsurprised, Barry stepped closer to the computers and began reading at top speed. In less than a minute he was finished. "There's a lot of stuff in there, but it mostly focuses on transmutation, which is the process of altering the structure of an element by unzipping the atoms…"

"And rebuilding it to create an entirely new element," Caitlin nodded.

"Well, the article was co-written by Jason rush, who's a grad student here at Hudson university. So if anybody knows what happened to Ronnie…"

"Maybe he does," Caitlin said hopeful. "Thanks!"

~ 0 ~

When Iris walked down the staircase, she was largely confused to find the foyer room full of empty cardboard boxes. What got her more was Belén standing by the staircase closet with another box in hands.

"What's going on?" Iris asked slowly, taking the last couple of steps down.

"You're moving out," Belén shrugged like it was casual.

Iris' eyes widened. "How…?"

"I heard you and Eddie yesterday before going to the mall," Belén elaborated as she put the box down on the floor. "Iris, I had no idea what you were planning. If I had, I would've stayed at home."

"No, this is exactly why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to feel guilty," Iris walked forwards.

"It's the truth," Belén repeated. "It's not fair for me to bring you down in my grieving period. I don't want you to stop living your life because I sullenly stopped living mine. You are moving out because a wonderful man's patience is being tested out there and it's just morally wrong."

The two shared a small laugh and got straight to work. In about an hour, the foyer room and parts of the living room were covered with boxes, clothes draped over couches and tables, personal objects on the floor and part of the staircase.. They had even gotten Joe to help, surprising him first that it was actually going to happen now. Apparently he was quite happy Belén was staying over because that meant his Iris wasn't going anywhere for at least another while. It made the two women laugh.

Sometime in the middle, Barry showed up as well, and he was just as surprised as Joe had been when he saw all the moving-out boxes lying about. "What's going on here?"

"You came to help her pack?" Joe inquired, although unbelieving it as well.

"No, no, no. Iris called and said that she had something for me."

"Yes, I do!" Iris got up from a nearby box and walked over to pick up a red backpack from the floor. "Bells actually found this in my closet."

"I thought it was just a backpack," Belén came over, seeing how wrong she was judging by Barry's ecstatic face.

"I haven't seen this in years!" he exclaimed as he took the bag, ignoring both Joe's and Iris' laughter.

"Well, the nerd survival kit is still intact," Iris patted his arm, still teasing him by laughing.

"Hey, Rayan used to read those," Belén inched closer to Barry as he pulled out an old comic book from the backpack. "He used to get mad at me for even breathing around them. What's so good about them anyways?"

"Don't even get him started," Iris shook her head.

"Once he starts he can't shut up," Joe added.

Barry, red-faced, gave them both a mini-glare. "Alright then." Belén laughed while he put away the comic into the backpack again.

"I think I'm late for work," Iris had checked her phone. "Dad I promise I will clean this up when I get back, okay?"

"Don't worry, Iris, I got it," Belén waved it off. "Least I can do for everything you've done for me."

"Thanks, Bells," Iris gave her a quick hug before heading out.

"Joe, do you mind if I have a quick word with Barry? I have to leave anyways too," Belén said sheepishly before adding, "And don't worry, unlike Iris I _will_ have this cleaned up when I get back."

"How about you just don't leave either so that way Iris can stay again?" Joe tried his luck for the last time, making her chuckle. "Yeah, it was a long shot." With a light sigh, he signaled he would be upstairs.

"You're going back home?" Barry assumed immediately after they were left alone.

"Mhm. It's time I stop forcing people to mourn with me," Bells nodded. "Did you know that Iris had been planning on moving out but postponed it for my sake?"

"Well…" Barry rubbed the side of his neck.

Belén tilted her head disapproving. "And you didn't tell me either. Great."

"Iris asked me not to…" Barry sighed. "We just wanted to help you as much as possible."

"Well," Belén didn't look as upset as he thought she would be, "I'm going back home. It's time to face what is now my life. But listen, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Shoot then."

There was an immediate shift in attitude in her. Her eyes seemed to shimmer, not of tears as they commonly did but of excitement. "I met with Mark this morning…"

See, something about that sentence didn't make Barry feel quite good. He was aware of it too and felt more puzzled than ever.

"...and we got to talking. He's become one of the leads of the team and, so...he has more authority than other dancers. I told him how much I realized I missed the place, the dances, my old friends...and he offered me a chance to come by and just, you know, start practicing again." There was a visible streak of shock etching across Barry's face and Belén jumped to add something more, thinking he was disapproving. "It's nothing promising, though, just...just a way for me to keep that connection with my Dad, you know…"

"Bells, I think...that's great," Barry began, and she immediately relaxed.

"You think so?"

"Yes! I mean, I think it's what you've needed, honestly. You seemed to be missing that part of your life and if, if that Mark guy is willing to help then...you know, go for it!"

The biggest smile spread across Belén's face. "I think it is what I needed. For the first time in weeks it's making me feel something besides grief. And it...it feels _nice_ ," she exhaled.

"I'm happy for you," Barry truthfully said, although a part of him wondered if this meant they would be seeing even less of her. She was already refusing to come to STAR Labs, how would this affect things?

"I'm going to go tell him yes right now!" Belén's announcement brought him back to the present. She was looking for her jacket somewhere in the mess, babbling on about setting up a meeting with Mark.

Deciding to be helpful, Barry sped around the room and put away everything in sight, leaving a neatly stack of packed boxes by the door.

"Oh that was so nice of you," remarked Belén with a sheepish smile, "But, um...my jacket was somewhere in the mess...and you probably put it away."

Barry turned back to the boxes, sighing as he went back through them, all in the meanwhile Belén stood there and laughed at his antics.

~ 0 ~

That night, STAR Labs kept true to their word and came up with designed shields that were meant to protect policemen from Snart's ice gun. Assuming the next spot Snart was to attack, the policemen, including Joe and Eddie, filed out towards the local mini-airport where Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway would be arriving with a million dollar priced artwork. Sure enough, Snart made an appearance...but he was not alone. The shields were meant to protect below average temperatures but were not equipped to protect against violent flames. In other words, they had not calculated for Mick Rory, and a heat gun, to be there as well. There were minor casualties, but enough to put some chaos in the CCPD.

Barry was one of the first to hear and immediately arrived at the building, where sure enough they were in the middle of trying to get back in order. He found Joe by the threshold of the main offices.

"Hey, are you okay!?"

"I'm fine," Joe nodded. "Snart's new partner, he's got this handheld flamethrower. Almost everyone was treated on the scene, but... We got two in the burn unit, though."

This made Barry feel incredibly guilty. He should have been there - he needed to have. "I'm sorry," he said, though knew it meant nothing now. "I should've listened to you."

"It's all good. But... The next time Snart and his pyro pal show up, you make them sorry they ever messed with you," Joe warned with a finger before whipping out his phone. "I got to call the hospital."

Barry nodded, intending on seeing it through.

~ 0 ~

"I love it," Belén chuckled as she and Mark stepped out of the theater. Belén held Mark's cellphone and was scrolling through pictures of the team. "These are so incredible, I can't believe you guys went on to New York. And England!" Mark laughed alongside her. "Oh my God, is that Casey?" she stopped at a picture of him and two blonde women in front of a beautiful garden. "I haven't seen her in years. She wasn't in the last show, right?"

"She's with her sister - she's got a new niece," Mark informed with a bright smile on his face.

"I can't wait to talk to her when she comes back," Belén gushed over the thought of speaking to old friends. She gave Mark back his phone and settled down. "I'll see you Friday, then?"

"Friday," Mark nodded, giving her a goodbye hug. "Get your silks and training clothes ready."

"I definitely will," Belén assured. With a last goodbye, they went in opposite directions. She pulled out her phone to search for any missed calls. There were, unsurprisingly, several from Cisco and Caitlin. Her fingers hovered over each of their names, unsure of how to even call back. She made it like a life mission not to step foot in STAR since her father's death. It felt like she failed her father and that STAR Labs was reserved for the heroes that were _actually_ heroes capable of doing their duties.

The moment she stepped in front of her car - her brother's old car - she heard a whizzing noise followed by a loud crack behind. Her eyes widened at the sight of the frozen window on her driver's side. Slowly, she turned around and saw none other than Leonard Snart and, unknown to her yet, Mick Rory.

"Long time no see," Snart devilishly smirked her way. "You shoot, you dance - if you come up with a third one you could be a triple threat."

Belén's heart hammered as the second man, Mick, stepped towards her. "N-n-n-n-no! Let's be rational!" she threw her bag at them and made a run for it.

Unfortunately it didn't work out.

~ 0 ~

Iris set down two mugs of cofee for a pair of customers at a table, asking them if there was anything else they would need. Upon a 'no' she turned back for the counter, and as soon as she looked up to the incoming customers, she found Maritza coming in holding the hand of her son Axel.

"Maritza, hey," Iris greeted, unable to mask her surprise in her tone.

"Hi Iris!" Axel greeted much like a four year old would, with excitement.

"Hello there, Axel," Iris smiled at the boy and headed back for the counter.

"I know it's strange seeing me," Maritza said quietly, understanding perfectly well the resentment she'd been getting due to her distance of her family. If they only knew why.

"Well, I just think when one of your parents die, it's customary to be close to your siblings," Iris said, rather coldly, not that she cared.

"We all mourn in different ways," Maritza said weakly.

"But family is important, too. They stick together in tough times, and you chose to wallow in your grief alone, leaving your sister alone in the process."

"I know it was bad, and that nothing I say can make it better," Maritza sighed. "I just...I just want to see my sister but no one was home."

"That's cos she's been staying with me and my Dad," Iris revealed, although there was something about her tone that put Maritza on edge. It was no longer cold nor anger seeping out.

" _But_ …?" Maritza drew out.

"It's just...I haven't spoken to Bells since yesterday."

"What do you mean?" frowned Maritza. "Have you tried calling her?"

Iris bit her lip, her eyes discreetly glancing towards the wall clock that struck one p.m. and she now knew she couldn't keep thinking it was nothing.

~ 0 ~

Barry, Cisco and Dr. Wells were hunched over the desk computers in Labs, listening to Cisco's newest discovery over the cold gun and the heat gun.

"See, when the heat gun was fired, it increased the surrounding temperature of the air dramatically, sort of like an extreme heat wave," but Cisco had to stop for a moment as a new realization struck him. "Heat Wave."

"Stop doing that," Dr. Wells scolded but there was no actual meaning behind it.

"Okay. I measured the temperature output of both the cold and heat guns, right? And while the cold gun achieves absolute zero, the heat gun successfully reaches absolute hot, or the hottest temperature an object can reach."

"Planck temperature," Barry understood fast.

"So potentially, these two guns could cancel each other out," Wells liked what he was hearing.

"Yeah, but to do that, you'd have to make them cross streams," Cisco glanced over to Barry.

"You mean like Ghostbusters?"

"That film is surprisingly scientifically accurate. And really quite funny."

Barry rolled his eyes at him, leaving it at that because his phone was ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out, saw Iris' name and took the call. "Iris, what's up?"

~ 0 ~

"Hey, Barry, listen, I was wondering if you knew where Belén is?" Iris turned her back on the counter, lowering her voice so that the nearby Maritza wouldn't hear her. "I haven't spoken to her since yesterday, and, well...at first I thought it was nothing but now Maritza's here and-"

"Maritza is there? What is she doing there?"

"She's come to see her sister obviously. But the point here is she stopped by Bells' home and she wasn't there either."

"Maybe she just overslept or something," Barry suggested. "Or maybe she's at CC Pictures."

"That's what I thought in the morning but, well…" Iris trailed off, biting nervously onto her nail.

"Well?"

"I went into your room, Barry, and she wasn't there. The bed - it was untouched. It was like she hadn't slept in it."

~ 0 ~

That put Barry on alarm as well. He glanced at Cisco, the latter conversing with Dr. Wells over future plans with the guns.

"Do you know if she slept over with someone else?" Iris asked then. "I thought Caitlin-"

"No, Cait went to have a word, um...she's not with Caitlin," Barry felt it was not his place to divulge information on Caitlin's whereabouts last night seeing it had to do with Firestorm.

"Okay, now I'm feeling bad because I waited too long. I swear I thought she was with Caitlin or something…"

"Don't worry Iris, I'll figure it out," Barry assured, although he wasn't too sure himself. It wasn't adding up.

"I'll keep Maritza busy I guess," Iris said glumly before hanging up.

Barry hung up afterwards and looked around, trying to come up with quick places he could check easily. Just as he was going to put away his phone it vibrated again. Thinking it was Belén, he hurried to answer without checking the ID.

"Bells!?"

"Barry-" it was Joe, "-you need to get over here. _Fast_."

~ 0 ~

Out in the parking lot of the local community theater, the CCPD had put cautionary tape around Belén's car. Barry went straight past the officers, up to Joe.

"Joe, anything?"

"There's no sign of Belén anywhere," Joe shook his head, moving aside so he could see the car behind. "We found her bag over there-" he pointed a few feet from them, "-but nothing else."

Shattered ice pieces were left near the car, some of them coming from the iced, cracked window. "Oh my God," Barry whispered at the sight, running a hand through his hair. He could see nothing that could tell him whether or not Belén was severely hurt on the spot, but nothing guaranteed she wasn't now. Determined, he turned back to Joe. "We're getting her back. We have to find Snart."

"Damn right we do. Come on, let's go," Joe gestured for them to get a move on.

And so they returned to the CCPD to continue the investigation. The moment they arrived, they were greeted by Eddie with a new file in hand.

"We got a hit," he announced, "A second pair of prints," he handed Joe the manila file, "They belong to a Mick Rory."

"Who is he?" asked Barry.

"Big-time arsonist," Joe explained. "He and Snart worked a job last year that went bad. Half of Rory's body was burned in a fire that got out of control. He escaped from an ambulance on the way to the hospital, hasn't been seen since."

"Why would they kidnap someone like Belén?" Eddie frowned at them, utterly lost.

Singh came out of his office with a finger pointed at the higher placed televisions. "Joe, Thawne, it's on every station."

They all looked up to the unmuted television that sure enough was broadcasting an unusual stream. Snart was up-close and personal on the screen, while Mick held onto Belén.

' _Greetings, citizens of central city. I am Leonard Snart. But you can call me Cold. I'm gonna make this very simple for everyone…'_

~ 0 ~

"Oh my God..." Angie's mouth fell open at the television screen and immediately turned up the volume. "RAYAN!" she called for the man in the hallway. "You have to see this _now_!"

Rayan came out grumbling, about to tell her off for disturbing his sleep when he saw his sister on screen with two well known criminals. "What...?"

'... _That red streak you've been hearing whispers about, the one mysteriously saving people these past few months? Well, surprise, he's real...'_

~ 0 ~

"Is that…" Maritza looked up to one of the Jitters televisions, seeing past Snart's face to Belén in the background.

"What in the…?" Iris stopped pouring coffee to look up as well.

 _'He calls himself the Flash. Porter and Main, tonight, sundown. Come out, come out, wherever you are, Flash. Show the whole world you're real...'_

~ 0 ~

'... _Or this woman dies."_

Though Belén was being pointed at she didn't care. She wasn't thrashing against them, nor looked the least bit afraid anymore. Once she learned their plan she knew there was no reason to be. They weren't after her. She was just a means to get the message through.

She met the camera with a straight face. "You don't have to," was all she said to the camera, hoping to God Barry would understand she would get out of it herself. She didn't want to force him to expose himself to the city.

The problem was Barry had made his decision before the transmission even ended.

~ 0 ~

Angie boredly stared as Rayan threw the television control at her television. "I'm gonna have to bubble wrap everything in this goddamn place," she muttered.

Rayan stalked into the hallway and Angie got up to follow. "What are you going to do?"

"FIND MY SISTER!" he screamed in her face and went into his room, slamming the door on her.

Angie felt no guilt whatsoever in hoping that they never did. She was becoming a nuisance, honestly.

~ 0 ~

"That hurts!" Belén hissed when Mick tied her second wrist down to the chair. She hated the rotten smell the warehouse they were in gave off, and she hated the two men around her who seemingly wanted nothing with her but to use her as bait. Mick ignored her and squatted down beside her, eyeing her. " _What_?" she snapped, meeting his look.

"You're a friend of his, huh?" Mick asked.

"You can say that," Belén smirked crookedly. "And I nearly shot yours."

" _Nearly_ ," Snart called from his spot across, hunched over a table.

"He's fast... Like fire," Mick suddenly said, whipping out a lighter and slowly waving it between him and Belén. "Fire, it's undefinable. Heat, light, energy. It's an evolution when things burn."

"Go get help," Belén concluded and looked away momentarily. "You're sick, do you know that?"

"Maybe you're the sick ones. You ever think about that?"

"Oh, good comeback," Belén rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with you anyways?" she eyed his burned skin. "You didn't ever think going to the hospital might help all that?"

"The fire revealed my true self, showed me who I really am. I wonder what your Flash will reveal when I burn his suit and skin off," he smirked at her, but it made no difference for her.

Belén leaned closer to him. "You won't be able to lay even a finger on him."

"So sure?" Mick challenged her, but she didn't falter.

"Absolutely. I'd say leave him alone but after what you did he's coming, and when the Flash is angry...watch out," the light smile on Belén's face only irritated Mick more.

"You're so sure he'll come to help you yet you told him not to," Snart turned from his table. "Which is it?"

"I hope he doesn't," Belén admitted. "But 99.9% of me knows I'm lying to myself if I think he's staying put."

Snart rolled his eyes and moved onto business. "Mick, time to go." Mick gave one last smile to Belén, who glared in return, and got back on his feet.

Mick rose up but not before pressing a red button on a small device strapped to the bottom of Belén's chair. "You better pray the next people that come through this door is us." He made sure to tie a gag around her mouth tightly.

"Nice to see you again, shooter-girl," Snart called and Belén tried to insult him through the gag.

When they two criminals had gone, Belén calmed down and let her vines wrap over the gag until it was untied and fell to the ground. The same thing happened with her wrists and feet. She was free, but she couldn't make her move without setting off the device under her chair.

"Just...great," she huffed at her predicament.

~ 0 ~

Momentarily alone in the cortex room, Barry stood in front of his suit on display. He was just waiting for the 'go' sign from Joe. The entire city was probably waiting for him and that...that put him on edge.

"She said you didn't have to," Caitlin's voice made him jump on his spot. She and Dr. Wells were the only ones left in the building since they would be monitoring him in the street. Cisco and Joe were tasked with finding Belén.

"And you think she meant that?" Barry asked her, meeting her soft smile.

"Yeah. But I think we all knew you wouldn't do it."

"If roles were reversed she would be doing the same," Barry said with the utmost certainty. "We're partners. I told her I'd have her back and she said she'd have mine."

Caitlin nodded, seeing there was nothing left to say on the matter. "Then go get them."

A second later, Barry's phone buzzed from his pocket, and when he answered it was Joe. "Okay, you're on," the man said with a tinge of fear. "Good luck, son."

"Thanks," Barry moved to hang up when Joe added as a final warning.

"Barry, after tonight, everyone's gonna know that the Flash exists. Are you ready for that?"

Barry understood completely the implications and still stood by his decision. It was worth it. She was worth it. "I'll see you soon," he said to Joe and finally hung up. He put away his phone and looked at his suit again.

"I'll go get Dr. Wells," Caitlin wished him good luck and went on her way.

Barry glanced to the side where Belén's green suit had been placed weeks ago and left untouched. He didn't realize it till then how much he missed seeing her in it, having her working beside him. Well, there would be a next time, he thought. There was no way in hell he was going to lose.

~ 0 ~

Zipping through the night streets of the city, Barry was very punctual in meeting Snart and Mick. The precise street had been evacuated and policemen, including Eddie, were on standby watching.

"The Scarlet speedster. Any preference on how you'd like to die?" Snart was the first to make a greeting. He waved his gun with the biggest smirk on his face. "The flame or the frost?" Barry only stared, though his mask covered up his anger it was pretty evident how he felt. "Not in the mood for chitchat. Gotcha. Ready when you are." Snart powered up his gun, as did Mick, and both shot forwards their respective beams.

Barry went right past them, easily dodging said beams. He gave only a second of a gap before he zipped right past them, disorienting both thieves for a minute. The second time around, the thieves had caught on. Snart caught Barry on surprise and, instead of directly hitting Barry, he formed an ice wall in Barry's direction. The speedster screamed in both horror and terror as he went straight first into the structure of ice. He tumbled on the ground, landing against a thrashed car.

"Barry?" he heard Dr. Well's voice through the comm. "Barry, are you okay? You know what you have to do."

"Yeah, get them to cross their beams and cancel their guns out. I know."

Mick stepped forwards and blasted flames from his own gun, causing the car Barry was hiding behind to explode into flames. Barry sped right out of it and onto a lonely side corner where he could catch his breath.

"It just not as easy as it sounds," he told Wells afterwards.

~ 0 ~

Belén was, shamefully, bored waiting to be rescued. She liked fairy tales, but she wasn't exactly liking having to once again be helped as if she couldn't do anything on her own. "What good is it to have powers if you can't use them," she sighed to herself. Maybe if she'd been practicing like Barry had told her over and over she would have more creative ideas to use her powers.

She heard a noise from the front doors and thought it to be someone else, seeing they were trying to bring down the locks. She heard a freezing noise, and for a minute thought it was Snart again. But the doors blasted into icy pieces and in came a familiar voice.

"Boy you sure love to get yourself into trouble, don't you?" Azul strolled in.

" _You_?" Belén frowned.

"Try not to conceal your disappointment," he rolled his eyes. "I'm not Flash but I do make an effort here. Would you like me to dress in red?"

"I can't...I can't decide if that was flirting..." Belén blinked, honestly having a hard time deciding.

"Is that disappointment I hear again?" Azul's smirk irritated the hell out of her.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Azul laughed and started coming for her when she shouted again. "No! Don't come any closer! They put a bomb on the chair!"

"Why don't you just use your powers to escape? I thought that was the point of them."

"Escaping is no problem for me, idiot," she raised her free hands. "It's me getting out _before_ the bomb goes off that's the complicated part."

"Thank goodness we've got someone better," Azul shot her wink. "Come in!"

Belén heard new footsteps and strained her neck to see who it was, as her chair was facing the other direction and she couldn't risk moving the bomb strapped underneath "Who's that?"

It was a tall man, dressed in black and grey leather, walked in. He wore a black, half-mask. However, the mask didn't stay on for long, as his hands reached up to take it off. Belén gasped loudly, unable to decide if she wanted to scream or cry at the same time.

"Hello my dear sister," Rayan greeted with the kindest smile ever, one that made Azul stop to question if this was the really the man he'd been working with. "Long time no see."

~ 0 ~

With the crazy shooting his way, Barry had no choice but to run up alongside buildings to dodge them or at least reflect them. However, on one of those he was struck by one beam and fell to the ground.

From the sidelines, Captain Singh ordered the other officers to get moving. "The fight is spreading beyond the evac area. We need to expand the perimeter."

"We can't," Eddie said determinedly. "We can't let this spread." He snatched up one of the designed STAR Labs shields and ran off, ignoring the calls of his name.

~ 0 ~

"It's okay, I can get you out," Rayan assured his younger twin. "This might feel a little weird, okay?"

"Weird how - AH!" Belén yelped in surprise as her body literally levitated off her chair. She turned her head frantically to see herself floating towards her brother and Azul. "H-how are you doing this!?"

Rayan hid his struggling face as he answered. He'd been having minor pain when using some of his powers but this was pain. He wasn't liking it, and he definitely wasn't going to show it. "With much love, Belén. I got you, don't worry."

"You're a telekinetic!" Belén exclaimed, gently dropping into his brother's arms.

"And you're a poisonous meta," Rayan's matching brown eyes met his sister's. "We've both changed."

Belén was put down on her feet. Her eyes shimmered with tears as she took in the fact her brother was right there in front of her again. She gave him the biggest hug possible. "I missed you so much!" she stifled a cry.

"As did I," Rayan admitted, relishing in the moment. "But, don't you think I've ever stopped watching over you."

Belén pulled away and smiled what she thought was probably the ugliest smile ever as it was covered in loose tears and dirt from her kidnapping. "I needed you, Rayan. Dad...he's…"

"I know," Rayan's eyes glistened as well. "And I want you to know that I will catch this guy and I will make him pay for what he did."

"It wasn't the Flash, did you get that message?" Belén asked quick. "It wasn't him, okay? It was a different speedster. They call him...the Reverse Flash apparently. It was him. He killed Dad because of some tachyons."

Rayan took Belén's hand and started leading them for the broken doors. The warehouse was not too far from the beginnings of the city.

"We're gonna find him, Belén. I swear."

"Why did you come for me?" Belén looked between him and Azul. "You say you've been watching over me, but when I needed you most you weren't there."

Rayan sighed. "It's complicated, Belén. But I wanted to be there. Things are…"

"Complicated," Belén finished for him. She glanced at Azul with nothing but disapproval. "You've been hanging out with the wrong crowds, Rayan."

"A lot's happened since the last time we saw each other," Rayan cleared his throat. "I was kidapped by some...gang, and it took me months to escape."

"I know, but why didn't you come back home?" Belén asked softly. "I've been looking everywhere for you and...you've just been playing hide and seek. You had your freaky metas come after me! You had them _shoot_ me!"

"I didn't know it was you behind the mask!" Rayan immediately clarified. "Pixel got hell for that after I realized it was you."

"Rayan, what's happened to you?" Belén looked her brother up and down. She felt something was off about him, besides the new abilities and the evil crowd he was with.

"I survived," Rayan said coldly. "The Particle Accelerator did this to me. It did this to all of us," he gestured to the trio. "What I've done, I've done because of them. They have to pay for what they've done-"

"What?" Belén blinked. "You mean STAR Labs? No-"

Rayan reached for her hands and cut her off. "I want you to come with me. Your abilities are extraordinary, but you are wasting your time with the Flash and all the other accomplices. You belong with me, with your family."

Belén looked at the city and suddenly saw two distinct rays of orange and blue shooting into the sky. "The Flash…" she went wide-eyed at her brother and Azul, "...he's...he's fighting the two that kidnapped me. We...we gotta help him."

"Belén, you're not listening!" Rayan snapped, unusually harsh. Her widened eyes laid on him again and showed, frankly, some fear. "You need to come with us!"

"I am not going anywhere with your nor your little band of criminals," she snapped. "They're thieves! Murderers!"

"You've been looking for me, Belén, and here's your chance to reunite with me. We can take down the bad guy, and we can take revenge on those who have wronged us. Most importantly, we can be a family again."

"Rayan-"

"Don't call me that," he shut his eyes for a moment. "I want...I want to be called Neuro."

"What?" Belén's eyebrows raised together. "No, your name is Rayan and you can help. Please, we need to go help my friend."

Rayan gripped her hands, imploring her to listen by tugging her closer. "I came out because you were in deep trouble, Belén. I wanted you to come to me because you wanted to. So please, I'm asking you to come with me now, and forget all that you know from that Flash, that...that crazy idea you can be a superhero."

"Rayan, I-"

"Don't you want to be with your family?"

"Don't...don't do this…" Belén could see the decision she was being forced into, or at least unfairly by the circumstances. "Rayan, I love you, and I want to be a family again…" but her eyes drifted to the city again, where the gun beams were growing wilder.

"Then let's go," Rayan said quickly. "Now is the time for you to get out. Come with your brother."

Belén swallowed hard and let her eyes fall on the city again. Her heart beat rapidly as she thought of Barry fighting off Snart and Mick on his own. They were partners and this was what they'd promised to do, help each other. She'd been nothing but difficult lately and, even though she deserved to be alone, Barry had been there trying to cheer her up nonstop.

She took back her hands from Rayan, and with tears falling down her eyes, she shook her head. "He's been there for me and now I can be there for him. I want to be there...and I want to help people. I've just been so obsessed with you that I forgot about me. I can't keep doing that."

"Belén..." Rayan was definitely not liking where this was go.

"Dad would be so disappointed," Belén continued, her voice frail yet assertive. "In _you_. Not me." That wounded him, Belén could see it all over his face. "If you really want to be a family again then you'll leave all of this and come with me right now to help my friend. It's _your_ decision now."

Rayan gaped at his sister, but she did not budge from her stance.

~ 0 ~

From his abrupt fall, Barry could not quite get up yet, even as Snart and Mick approached him. Just when the two were about to shoot their respective guns, Eddie managed to get through and shield him and Barry from the beams.

"I've got you!" the blonde officer exclaimed, though struggled to uphold his word.

With little energy, Barry sped them out of the way to safety. He left Eddie and returned to the street. "I can't get them to cross streams," he spoke into the comm. "Speed isn't getting it done."

"You're right," Wells said, as if just realizing it himself. "Maybe the way to do this is not by going faster."

"It's going slo-"

Someone else shouted from across, close to where Snart and Mick were. Thick vines had wrapped around a figure, revealing to be 'the Azalea' - and she was not happy. One thick, strong vine went straight for Mick, punching him across the face and knocking him to the ground.

"What's the matter?" she called to Snart who was taking in the uninvited opponent. She was furious, and it wasn't totally with him which only made things worse. Because she was in civilian clothing - though wearing a makeshift mask of her vines and azaleas - the blotches of green were trickier to hide. Belén could feel that uninvited rush of powers washing over her.

 _Go away,_ she desperately wished.

A low growl slipped through her mouth, indicating she was losing the internal battle. Before she knew it, she thrust a tendril of vine directly for Snart. The man barely dodged it but Belén was quicker in her state. She snapped the tendrils like lassos and forced him to continue jumping to dodge. He directed his gun at her and began to fire several times.

Relieved to see her, and a bit afraid for her life, Barry zipped across the street and got Belén out of the way. He hid them behind another car. "Bells?" he noticed she wasn't quite herself but blamed it on her kidnapping.

Belén gasped and came back as herself. Her eyes darted to ever inch of her body and was grateful to see the green had gone...she was just left wondering for how long.

"Belén?"

She met eyes with him and remembered where she was. "Oh...oh! I had a plan!"

"I kinda had one too...you shouldn't be here," Barry could hear Caitlin repeatedly telling him to tell Belén to get back to STAR Labs for a check up.

Belén shook her head. "Nope! I have a plan and it's quite easy too! It involves no more burned suit…" she was having a good eye on his tarnished suit, even making a face.

"New partner, Flash?" Snart called to them.

"They're allowed," Belén popped up from behind the car. "Now choke on this!" she sucked in a breath and released the familiar mist of pink poison towards him and Mick.

"Azalea!" Barry feared for a minute her anger would get the best of her and make her do something she would later regret.

Snart started coughing, forced to drop his gun as he clutched at his throat. "Dark…" he smirked nonetheless her way. The same was happening with Mick.

Belén jumped onto the car and watched with pride. "But not a murderer. The poison is enough to make you weak, but you'll be fine." She swung one arm to the right and slammed Mick with a tendril of vine against a closed shop's door. She snatched the heat gun then swung her other arm to the right and left Snart lying against a mailbox. She picked up the cold gun and brought both guns into her arms.

Barry got on his feet and looked at the sight Belén had left. "Did I mention I love having you as my partner?" he moved around the car and helped her get down. Before he could see her teary eyes she threw her arms around his neck for a well-needed hug.

~ 0 ~

"What do you mean she...chose another?" Maritza was appalled to hear such a story from her younger brother. The two were sitting inside the warehouse that had been hardly touched since Rayan's headaches started.

"Exactly what I said. Belén made _me_ choose," he said, sounding truly offended of the matter.

"Well, I'll give her points for being a lot tougher than we thought," Maritza ran a hand through her hair. "I mean...I guess we didn't really think about what she would say."

"How could we? Neither of us are with her enough to know her," Rayan shrugged. "We've left her with some new people who...who are changing her every day."

"Then maybe that's what we need to work on," Maritza resolved. "We need to remind Belén that family is everything. She's always been family-driven so it shouldn't be that hard."

"You think so? Because I saw a different light in our sister's eyes. She actually wants to become a hero," Rayan shook his head. "Imagine that?"

"I do, but that's where we'll need to show her how awful STAR Labs actually is. It's just a matter of reminding..." Maritza put her arm around her brother's shoulders and gave a smile for both of them. "We can do it, Rayan."

But somehow, internally, she wasn't exactly sure.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Iris had finally finished packing and was now watching Eddie and Barry carry down her last box from upstairs. She didn't think it was all that heavy but apparently the two had disagreed.

"I think that's it," she said cheerfully nonetheless.

"This better be it," Eddie mumbled as he placed the box down with Barry.

"Well, like you said, you're ten minutes away, so if you forget something…" Joe had began to say when his eyes teared up.

"Okay, Dad," Iris gave him a tight hug.

Joe laughed. "I can't say it enough. I'll miss you."

Eddie walked over to the two. "You know you can come around anytime, Joe. Just give us a heads-up." But the look on Joe's face made him reconsider. "Or not. Come around whenever. You want a key? I'm gonna go." He quickly went back to the box and on his own picked it up. "I'll wait...in the truck." On his way out, he bumped into Belén, making her stumble back a couple steps. "Sorry, Belén!" he apologized but she laughed and stepped aside for him to keep going.

"Careful on the last step!" she made sure to warn before stepping inside. "Are you all set then, Iris?"

"Definitely," Iris said.

Belén was able to see the twinge of guilt in Iris' words and shook her head. "Iris, I'm gonna be fine, honest. I just...actually came for some things I left upstairs."

"You already left?" Barry asked, surprised of this. It had been late in the evening when Belén was able to return from the police department after giving her formal statement.

"This morning," she nodded, speaking quietly and averting her eyes from him.

"I guess...there's nothing left to say then," Iris stepped up and hugged her friend. "You know I really am ten minutes away, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Belén tried to remain happy for Iris, because she was, she just couldn't help feel like the loneliness would be more challenging than she thought.

"I gotta go," Iris looked at her father and Barry. "I'll see you guys later, okay."

Belén awkwardly smiled as she gestured to the stairs. "I left my laptop upstairs earlier. I'll be out soon too, promise."

"It's fine," Joe smiled her way.

"Thank you for everything," Belén honestly said and started up the stairs when she remembered. "Actually," she turned to the side facing the two men, "I don't suppose you thought about my suggestion from earlier?"

Joe raised his eyebrows, apparently having thought about it. Confused, Barry waited for some explanation but it never came. "Uh, what, uh, what explanation?" he finally asked.

"Belén was making a couple good points that I thought were...true," Joe began, but had trouble to finish.

"I said that maybe _you_ could move back in," Belén contently finished for him. "I have never been to your place but everyone says it's a death trap-"

"It _is_ ," Joe made sure to leave clear. Barry shot him a small glare.

"I was just thinking maybe it could be easier for both of you…" Belén said kindly, leaning on the banister. "And I promise I didn't girly your room up. I didn't touch anything...I didn't understand what many things were, especially that one with a little mirror." She made the gesture of a circular mirror with her index and thumb.

Barry chuckled and glanced at Joe. "You know, it is getting hard to hide the blasting in and out of my apartment at all hours of the night from my neighbors. I suppose it would make sense for me to move back in. I mean, I am a millennial. That is what we do."

Belén rolled her eyes. "Well, you guys can figure that out. I will go get the rest of my things."

"Do you want some help?" Barry was too quick to volunteer, but he was surprised to have such a faster rejection from her.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," she made a hasty retreat to the second floor.

Barry glanced back to Joe, making a confused gesture. Joe just shrugged and went on with the topic.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think...roomies, definitely," the choice wasn't difficult for Barry to make. Still, as happy as he was to come back home, he couldn't help wonder what was up with Belén.

There was still the unaccounted way of how she managed to escape from wherever it was Snart and Mick had put her away in. After getting to STAR Labs, they helped heal her and whatnot but they could not get her to speak about her escape. She wouldn't budge. There was something that happened and she didn't want to say it - in fact, she didn't want to remember it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Man I love Captain Cold so much, too bad he had to go down in the chapter! As for Belén, tough situation she was in right? The poor woman...

On an unrelated note have you guys seen that Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost is reported to be one of the lead roles in the Flash film!? I. Am. So. Frikin. Excited. About. That! I just love this character so much I'm happy to see her getting more exposure!


	15. The Choice's Aftermath

Belén stepped into her home - rather lonely home - expecting a peaceful afternoon of rest. CC Picture News was having rough days full of news considering the exposure of the Flash had happened, and, apparently, a couple sightings of the Azalea. There were news about them nearly every day. It looked like the article they had once ran against the Flash had disappeared because now everyone loved him apparently. It was fine, it just meant killer days even after a shift was over.

So, it was an understatement to say Belén was surprised to find her older sister, Maritza, placing a plate on the dinner table. Axel was already digging into his plate

"Mar...itza?" Belén arched an eyebrow, slowly coming in and shutting the door.

Maritza smiled upon seeing her younger sister, like nothing had happened only a few days ago. "Belén, good your back. I made your favorite: lasagna."

"Uh...thanks?" Belén dropped her things on the couch as she walked by, coming into the dining room. "What are you...doing here?"

"I've been thinking, a lot, and I decided that maybe it's good if we live together…"

Belén's eyes popped wide.

"You know, it's getting difficult for me at my own place, and I thought...considering what happened to you last week, and then with Dad...I don't want to be so far away anymore. If you're okay with it - considering this is technically your home now - can Axel and I move in?" It was quiet for a full minute, and Maritza wondered if she too were going to be rejected like Rayan.

But then, Belén laughed and threw her arms around Maritza. "I think that is really what we need right now!"

Slowly, Maritza smiled back and hugged get sister tighter. From his chair, Axel cheered, though he didn't quite understand why.

~ 0 ~

That night, S.T.A.R. LABS became just as busy fighting crime building as any other night. Three gang robbers had struck at some jewelry store and while the policemen were actively trying to capture them in a car street chase, the Flash was making a slightly bigger effort to run them down.

Caitlin was monitoring from the computers, along with Cisco. "Oh, Barry, there's an intersection coming up. Hurry!"

Barry sped up ahead of the thieves and disoriented them a bit. "This should slow 'em down!" However, the intersection came up and the three bandits split up easily. Barry came to a skidded halt as he stared in each taken direction. "Guys, which way?"

"Left," went Caitlin at the same time Cisco went, "Right."

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Stop!" Barry cut in before they went further. "You both hear you're telling me two different things, right?"

"Barry, listen up. Listen carefully," Dr. Wells took over the comm. "Belén is making her way there - I'm sending her after the Queen. You, on the other hand, have to handle the other two."

"She's not gonna be able to keep up," Barry said frantically. She was already up far ahead, and Belén was coming in from her own house. How was she gonna do it?

"Excuse you, I'd hit you if I was there," came the cool and collected voice of the woman in question.

"Barry, take a right," instructed Wells, making him immediately zip in the opposite direction.

"Belén, the Queen is trying to make it to the bridge…"

"Got it!" Belén, in her dozen of vines, ripped through the streets, not as fast as Barry, but enough to get to where she needed to be on time.

"Make her go west before Fremont!"

"Ooh, like a detour, yeah?"

"Precisely!"

Belén grabbed several construction blockers and organized them along the street with her vines. She could hear the motorcycle nearing but by the time 'the Queen' reached the site she was forced into a quick delve into the next street.

"All clear!" Belén exclaimed, disbanding into vines soon after.

"Excellent, now Barry, the King is headed for the entrance to the interstate."

Barry was one step ahead, his mind now cleared of some stress. He went on ahead and blocked the entrance with more construction blocking tools. "What entrance?" he said smugly afterwards.

"Atta boy. Check…"

With the construction blocking their way, the three bandits were forced into a second intersection. Only this time the police officers in their own cars had managed to surround them.

Barry went by each in speed from, yelling to them. "Got the keys!" And he left them to deal with their new situation.

~ 0 ~

Coming back to S.T.A.R. Labs, both Barry and Belén were welcomed warmly by their friends. Belén went straight to Caitlin while Barry went to Cisco, and 'high-fived' for triumph.

"Efficiently done, Mr. Allen," Dr. Wells congratulated and glanced at Belén who was in the middle of finding her clothes with Caitlin. "As did you, Belén."

"Thank you," Belén mumbled, more focused on finding her clothes.

"We need a picture," Cisco announced, and didn't even wait for answer before he hurried to find his phone.

Barry looked after him. "Pretty sure rule number one of having a secret identity is not taking pictures of yourself in your super suit without a mask on."

Cisco, turned back with phone. "Oh, come on, please! This is just for us. This is to document all this."

Wells swayed his head as he came to with the idea. "Who knows? Maybe people in the future will want to know how all this happened."

Barry nodded, resigned to. "All right, well, if you want the future to have the whole story, then, we all need to be in it."

Caitlin put hands to her face. "First, let me put on some makeup?"

"The future does not care about your makeup, Caitlin," Cisco tossed his phone over tossed Barry.

"Don't be so rude, Cisco," Belén scolded and gently brought Caitlin to where Dr. Wells was, ready for the pictures.

Barry prepared to take the photo. "Okay. Big smiles. Three... two... one-" he left the phone to go be _in_ the photograph then returned a second later and caught the phone before it even had the chance to fall. "Ha!"

Caitlin tilted her head, wondering. "Does that count as a selfie?"

"Absolutely," Barry pointed at her while giving Cisco back the phone.

"Sick," Cisco laughed at the resulted photograph. "Came out good."

"I really have to get home," Belén set loose her hair from the root invasion she usually pinned it up with when she went Azalea. "Maritza's probably waiting for me…"

"Your sister is at your place?" Cisco glanced over, apparently surprised.

Belén nodded. "Actually, she moved in."

" _When_?" went everyone except Wells, much to her amusement.

"This afternoon," she laughed at their reactions. "Yeah, she surprised me too."

"I suppose after what you went through last week, she just wants to be close with her sister," Caitlin reasoned logically and gained agreement from everyone else.

"Yeah, well, I love it, but it does make things trickier with this whole secret fighting thing. Now, for example, I gotta go home - she's making it movie night."

"If you'd like, I can speed you there," Barry offered kindly.

But Belén instantly shook her head. "No! I...I can get there on my own, thank you." There was an awkward silence among them soon after, and Belén wanted not to be further questioned. "I have to go. Goodnight," she hurried off without looking at anyone in the room.

Caitlin rose from her chair and tapped her fingers along the desk, looking after their friend. "She left without changing."

"What's going on with her?" Cisco asked, confused. "I thought we were...you know, cool again?"

"I keep telling you, it has something to do with how she escaped from Snart's warehouse," Barry was tired of telling them.

It had been nearly a week since the defeat of the Rogues but Belén refused to talk about the incident. They don't know how she escaped considering there was a bomb strapped to her chair. But, Belén just wouldn't talk.

"Belén is just disoriented from all that's happened lately," Dr. Wells said matter-of-factly. "We just have to give her time to...fall back into the normal routine."

Barry couldn't help the sourness in his words as he said, "Well I just don't understand why she's taking it out on _me_."

For that, neither Wells nor Caitlin or Cisco had a response. They were well aware on the distinct distancing Belén had taken against Barry, and none of them could figure out why - not even the man from the future posing as a paraplegic.

It was all just a mystery.

~ 0 ~

That same night, Iris made a stop by Belén's home and was surprised to find Maritza and Axel there as well. Axel, upon seeing her, hopped off the couch and ran up to greet her.

"Iris! Hi! Hi!" he hopped excitedly at her side. "Do you want to see the drawings I did today!? My Mommy says I'm really good at them!"

Iris, who was holding a box in her arms, could only chuckle in response. "Hi, Axel. What are you doing here?" discreetly she looked up to Belén asking her the same thing.

"We're living here now!"

Iris' eyes widened, but made sure to hide her very shocked face from Maritza who was coming in from the kitchen. "Hello Iris," Maritza greeted and took her son away from the woman. "We're moving in back home as Axel said. And, speaking of Axel, it's your bedtime."

"But I wanted to show Iris my drawings!" the boy stomped his foot.

"Maybe you can show them to me tomorrow, yeah?" Iris tried helping out Maritza. "We can even put them an album for you to look over whenever you want."

Axel's face lit up with excitement. "Okay! Goodnight, Iris! Goodnight, auntie Belén."

Belén smiled. "Goodnight Axel." She waited until her sister and nephew were gone before speaking again. "What are you doing here, Iris?" she eyed the box in her friend's arms. "Did you and Eddie already have a lovers' spat?"

Iris playfully rolled her eyes. "Oh, ha-ha. No. I realized I accidentally, for some reason, packed in a couple of your things with mine." She walked into the living room and put down the box on the couch.

"Oh, well thanks," Belén followed and leaned over the couch from behind. "I did wonder where some of my things went, but I just thought I left them in Barry's room."

Iris opened the box and pulled out several items that Belén did realize she'd been looking for. "I really hope this wasn't a diary," Iris laughed as she passed a purple journal to Belén.

"No, it was work notes," Belén smiled to herself, eyeing several other clothes that went into the box by accident.

"Uh oh," Iris stopped at a gray shirt in her hands. "Man, I suck at packing."

"Why? That's-" Belén was halfway pointing when Iris cut her off.

"I put in one of Barry's old shirts by mistake." Iris exhaled and shook her head, re-folding the gray shirt to put back into the box.

"...I thought that was yours," Belén meekly said a couple seconds later. Iris looked at her friend with a teasing smile. Belén rolled her eyes, half-expecting some of the words that would be coming out as a response. "It was lying around, and considering you are _not_ a neat woman...I thought it was yours," she turned her head to the side in thought. "Although that does explain why it was a bit too big…"

Iris busted out laughing, much to Belén's irritation. Iris put away the now-folded shirt into the box and pushed back her hair as she took a deep breath in. "You gotta admit that was funny."

"Whatever," Belén muttered and went back to reading the notebook in her hands. "You're just lucky that I love you because if it were any other person now they would not tell you what I am about to tell you."

"Yeah, like what?" Iris crossed her arms and waited.

Belén's eyes looked up, and completely seriously, announced, "They've asked me at CC Picture News to extend a job offer to Iris West but...I may just change my mind."

Iris' eyes had never looked so big at that moment. "Oh. My. _God_! Are you...are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm no-"

In her excitement, Iris hopped onto the couch and went to be face to face with Belén. "Annah-Belén Palayta, please tell me that's not a joke, please?"

"No, it is not a joke," Belén said with a crooked smile. "One of our co-workers quit a couple days ago and they've been looking for someone. I reccomended my good ole friend who also wrote a famous blog-"

"It wasn't that famous," Iris waved with a hand.

"Do you want the job or not?"

"Oh yes, please!"

"Then your blog is famous, period. So, what do you want me to tell them?"

"That I will be there first thing tomorrow morning of course!" Iris squealed and threw her arms around Belén's shoulders. "Oh, you are such a good friend to me! I owe you big time!"

Belén smiled and pulled away. "It's nothing, Iris. I'm gonna like working with you. Although, considering Noah and I have Linda as our mentor, you'll probably be paired with someone else."

"Doesn't matter, we're gonna be co-workers," Iris smiled the widest possible. She got off the couch and continued taking out what was left in the box. "I have to get back to Eddie's and tell him about this."

In her excitement again, she pulled out Barry's shirt and placed it onto the couch. "Iris, that's not mine!" Belén exclaimed but Iris ignored her as she babbled on.

"Nine a.m. right!?" Iris called from the door.

"Yeah, but-"

"I will see you outside so you can give me like a little tour or something cos I definitely don't wanna be _that_ dork on her first day-"

"Okay, but Iris, this isn't mi-"

"Oh this is gonna be so much fun!" Iris laughed to herself and hurried out.

Belén raised her hands in resignation and went around to gather what Iris had brought in. Maritza came back down the stairs and mused. "What was that all about? I could hear Iris from upstairs."

"Oh, I told her about CC Pictures giving her a job offer and she went...all excited," Belén smiled in the end. She was happy Iris was finally going to be recognized by an official company for her talent.

"So you're gonna be working together, then?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

"That's good," Maritza came up behind the couch and looked down at the various things left across. "What's all this?"

"Just some of my things Iris accidentally packed while I was staying with her and Joe. I'm gonna take it upstairs right now."

"This isn't yours," Maritza chuckled as she pulled up a bright neon pink blouse.

"What - oh for God's sake!" Belén took the blouse from Maritza with a loud sigh. "That woman really does suck at packing."

"And neither is this," Maritza then pointed at the gray shirt.

"Yeah, that's Barry's. I'll be bringing these by tomorrow for Iris to take," Belén took the gray shirt and stuffed it back into the box along with the pink blouse. "I'm gonna go get some sleep too."

"Mhm, you do that," Maritza smiled and watched her sister go upstairs with the things that actually belonged to her in her arms. Once gone, Maritza's smile vanished and she turned around.

Well, if Iris was going to be working at CC Picture News, then it would make it a lot more difficult for Belén to slip away and see that Flash. Noah and Iris were going to take the shift there - unknowingly to Iris - and Maritza herself planned on taking the shift at home. She promised Rayan that by moving in with Belén it would become more difficult for Belén to continuously see that Flash. Plus, living together, she could hopefully push Belén in the right direction towards her _family_.

~ 0 ~

As promised, the next morning, Belén arrived to work and saw Iris anxiously waiting right outside the doors. Belén couldn't help laugh a little as she saw the practically bouncing woman. "Did you seriously not go inside yet? Iris, you've been in there like a million times already."

"Yeah, but as your _friend_!" Iris pointed at her. "Not as myself, the new cub reporter."

"I'm one too," Belén shrugged casually and reached for the doors. "It's fine, just be...casual."

Iris took a deep breath and followed her in. Belén led her up to her desk, and Noah appeared a couple seconds later from his own desk.

"Iris, hi," Noah greeted her with a shake of hands. "Belén told us she was gonna be asking you about the offer. Glad to see you took it."

"Yeah…" Iris could think of only that word at the moment.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine here! You've got awesome bosses around here," he said purposely loud as Linda walked by.

"Being a kiss-ass will get you nowhere, Iris," Linda turned around, mockingly scolding Noah. "So don't even listen to whatever this guy has for advice."

Iris chuckled and nodded her head. "I think I'll go with Bells."

"You guys are wanted for the meeting," Linda pointed at the three. "Hurry up, Larkin's here today."

"Yikes," Belén dropped off her bag and left Iris' there as well. "C'mon Iris, time for you to meet the big boss."

"Good luck," Linda told the newest worker before leaving.

The meeting was held across the room, on an elevated platform. There were already several other workers waiting in their chairs.

"Look who showed up," Noah whispered to Belén, but Iris was able to hear perfectly from her spot. He had nodded over to an older, brunette man reaching for some of the hand sandwiches on the table.

"Who's that?" Iris asked them both.

"The snobbiest man ever," Belén spat as they came to take their seats.

Iris took a seat beside Belén, and Noah took the other. A couple minutes later, Larkin showed up. He was an elder man, a small one too.

"Mr. Bridge! Nice of you to make an appearance at a staff meeting," he addressed the man identified as Mason.

"I do love a good shmear."

"Ah, Miss Palayta, I see you have persuaded your friend to take the offer," Larkin had laid eyes on Iris who sheepishly smiled in response.

"I told you she would, sir," Belén said politely. Iris noticed a sort of...dreadful expression take over her face a second later, like she was just waiting for something.

"Well," Larkin placed a hand on the table, "how's about next you give one of our reporters a little something about the Flash for the next round of articles?"

Belén looked anywhere that wasn't Larkin. She pushed back some of her hair and, quite breathlessly, said back, "I would...if I knew anything."

Larkin raised his eyebrows, for a second looking crossed (as Iris noticed) then addressed the entire group. "Everyone, welcome Iris West, our new cub. Anyone want to volunteer to be her mama bear?" Iris expected something like this to happen, but she felt even worse when Larkin gave another word. "Mason, you picked a bad day to actually show up."

"I don't nanny," Mason shook his head.

"I lost the ability to make a joke back in '05. Today, you do," Larkin finalized then, onc eagain spoke to the entire table. "Deadlines. All new stories are due on my desk at the end of the day."

Everyone began to get up and disperse to their tasks. Belén got up quietly and turned to leave as well.

"What was that about?" Iris asked her before she left, eyeing a glum Mason depart at the same time. That would be fun, she noted. "Larkin...asking you about...you know…"

Belén deeply sighed, shaking her head. "Ever since I was...kidnapped last week, everybody won't stop pinning me to the Flash. All the time it's 'Flash this' or 'Flash that' - they don't get that I don't want to talk about it." She almost blurted about the article they'd run about her as the Azalea...thank God she kept her mouth shut.

Iris blinked rapidly as the last words of Belén became louder and more aggressive. She had never quite heard her like this. Without another word, Belén walked away, still pretty upset.

"What...just happened?" Iris asked Noah, the only other possible man to answer her question.

"I just think it was pretty traumatizing, you know," Noah shrugged, the two beginning to walk as well. "And I don't think it helps when all anyone around here cares is whether or not she saw the Flash or knows him. Only Linda and I don't join in on that.

"Yeah," Iris said. "But, I mean, if she _did_ know him, she would have told us right?"

Noah felt so sorry for that woman then. If only Iris knew what her good friend was up to nowadays.

~ 0 ~

In S.T.A.R Labs, everyone save Belén was gathered in the cortex awaiting for an explanation of their newest enemy. Only a couple seconds in, Belén came in looking slightly out of breath.

"Dr. Wells, I am so sorry for not being able to come in earlier to see you," she went straight up to the man, more than concerned over the 'prank' played on him the previous night. She'd gotten the text from Caitlin she and Cisco were going to Wells' home to see him directly, but having to go into work to show Iris around prevented Belén from joining.

"I'm fine, thank you," Dr. Wells showed with open arms how perfect he was for condition.

Belén was relieved to see this was true. She looked around and noticed the profile of a young man in glasses plastered on a computer. "What's going on?"

"I was just about to explain who was behind the attack last night - you just made it," Wells explained.

"The metahuman?"

"He's not a metahuman," Cisco declared in the utmost crossed tone. 'He's worse."

Belén looked at the group, and noticed that Caitlin and Dr. Wells seemed to be in the know of something she, Barry and Joe didn't. "I'm confused, do you guys know him?"

"Hartley Rathaway possesses one of the finest scientific minds I've ever encountered," Dr. Wells said, basically giving the 'yes' for her question.

"Any ties to Rathaway Industries?" Joe wondered.

"His grandfather founded the company, his father expanded it, and Hartley here was set to inherit the throne."

"What happened?" Barry asked.

"He came out to his parents. Old money, old values," Caitlin said sadly.

"They were estranged when we met, but, brilliant. I couldn't have built the particle accelerator without him." Wells mused.

"But I don't think I've ever heard a mention of him from any one of you," Belén remarked, giving them all looks for that.

Caitlin cleared her throat. "That's because Hartley had a... _challenging_ personality."

Cisco rolled his eyes. "What she means is he was mostly a jerk. But, every once in awhile... he could be a dick."

Joe busted out laughing. Barry too smiled, and Belén tried not to laugh as Joe had.

"Let's just say that Hartley, like many outliers, had trouble relating to his peers," Wells tried to downplay that bad behavior of Hartley.

"So if you two were so close, why would he target you?" Joe asked.

"Hartley left S.T.A.R. Labs about a year ago after we had a... a disagreement."

"About what?"

Barry saw that Wells was not feeling like sharing, and so he stepped in. "Look, don't worry. We'll stop him. I won't let him hurt you, any of you," he said to the rest. "Let's get back to my lab, all right?" he said to Joe.

Joe nodded and headed for the doors. Before doing the same, Barry glanced over to Belén, seeing her rummaging through her bag.

"Bells, you want a lift?"

She seemed startled by the way she nearly dropped her phone. "No, I'm good. I don't intend on going back to work yet."

Although knowing his chances were very slim, he insisted again. "Are you sure? It's-"

"I'm fine-"

"-not that difficult to-"

"-I don't want to-"

"-or did you come-"

"I said I'm _fine_!" Belén exclaimed loud enough to finally cut Barry off. There was a visible urgency, and annoyance in her face that made Barry back off. A little embarrassed, Belén hurried out of the room.

Barry then made a gesture after her for the rest to understand that this was what he meant about her taking something out on him. She was distant with everyone, yes, but he didn't recall her flat-out rejecting and nearly shouting at anyone else but him. It was frustrating, to be honest, and a little hurtful. What had he done to be on her bad list?

~ 0 ~

"Hey," Caitlin's voice startled Belén in Cisco's workroom. After everyone had gone to their separate tasks, Belén retreated into the only room where she could possibly take a break.

"Did you guys find anything about that Hartley guy?" Belén leaned back against a table. It was then that she spotted the newspaper Caitlin was holding in her hands. "You read the newspaper now?"

"Um...sometimes I do," Caitlin cleared her throat. She wasn't sure how to bring it up without further upsetting Belén, because Caitlin was sure she'd found the reason why Belén was acting differently. "I was reading something from a couple days ago, actually. It was the late edition, I think...?"

Belén crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I wasn't in those days since, uh...you know...I was kidnapped. Again."

Caitlin's lips stretched into an apologetic smile like it was her fault. "Well, it ran but I guess we all missed it since we were looking after you. But my neighbors, yeah, they don't miss anything. I found this one-" she motioned to the newspaper, "- in the trash and I...I got curious when I saw your name on it. The Azalea?" she unrolled the newspaper and showcased the headline to Belén. "' _The Flash and the Azalea Might be the Couple the City Needs_ _?_ '" Caitlin saw Belén's mortified face only get worse after reading the title out loud. The picture of the Azalea hugging the Flash was certainly not helping the case.

"Oh God I really wish you hadn't seen that," Belén covered her face just as she felt herself get all red and warm.

"And I suspect Barry as well?" Caitlin rolled the newspaper back.

"Well of course!" came Belén's muffled response behind her hands.

"You don't need to be embarrassed by this sort of thing. And you definitely don't need to avoid Barry either."

"But I feel so awkward around him!"

Caitlin gave a tiny smile, one similar to the teasing ones Iris usually gave. "Belén, do you think that maybe the reason you feel a little awkward-"

"Not 'little'. Big. It's monumental awkwardness, actually."

"Okay, do you think that the reason you feel this way is because...you might actually... _like_ Barry?"

Belén dropped her hands from her face to reveal a stunned, wide-eyed expression. " _What_?"

Caitlin knew she was treading on a delicate pathway, but she suspected Belén didn't have the courage to talk about this with anyone. She wanted to give Belén the chance at a clean, secret talk where Belén could vent whatever she needed without worrying if it would ever make it out. "It's okay, Belén. I would never say anything."

"Caitlin Snow I do not..." Belén had began with determination but just like that it vanished. The air seemed to leave her lungs like she'd been running a marathon. "I don't...no! I could never! And not like in the condescending 'I would never date Barry' but just...I can't."

"Why not?" Caitlin tilted her head curiously.

"Because...it scares me," Belén admitted with a quiet sigh. "Just...just the idea of dating altogether. After Carlton - after he kidnapped me, I just...it scares me."

"You're traumatized," Caitlin realized and walked over to hug her friend.

"I don't know what it is but it just doesn't feel good. I don't know what I feel, but...it scares me."

Caitlin pulled away and smiled. "Well, whatever it is you feel you shouldn't be afraid because - if you happened to like Barry-"

"I don't," Belén said all too quick, making Caitlin chuckle.

"Well, just in case you did...he would never be like Carlton. But right now, I think he's hurt by your distance."

Belén felt guilty for not telling Caitlin the entire reason why she was avoiding Barry, but for right now...she couldn't speak. "Thank you Caitlin," she hugged the brunette again and really thanked her luck for having such good friends.

~ 0 ~

It wasn't long before Hartley Rathaway made an appearance in broad daylight. In a black hooded cloak, he marched up to Rathaway Industries. Matching black hand gloves were extended towards the company building, and sonic waves emerging from it that shattered the glass walls. It took down signs, parked cars and even one nearing police car.

"Peek-a-boo!" someone tapped on his shoulder.

The moment he turned around to 'sonic wave' them as well, something hit him hard against the chest and threw him to the ground.

Belén hovered inches from the ground via vines, and lowered herself to a graceful landing. "Ever watch Doctor Who, Hartley? Because you are so Doctor Who-ing - is that a real word? 'Who-ing?'"

"I've seen you," mused Hartley as he studied the woman in green. "But you're not as well known, huh? What's your name again?"

Belén rolled her eyes at the attempt to make her falter. "I don't care how well known I am. Nice try. Moving on now."

Wind picked up as Barry joined in, now standing on beside Belén. "It's over, Rathaway."

Hartley laughed, apparently amused."Oh, you both know my name. Well I know some names too." He started picking himself again. "Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Harrison Wells. I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suits. About 1900 megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Are they gonna hear you die?"

"Someone is _so_ full of himself," Belén remarked, rolling her eyes. "Is that a guy thing?"

Barry reacted fast to that accusation. "Hey!"

Hartley took his opportunity and blasted the two metahumans backwards. Barry got right back up and looked over to Belén to see her condition. Her healing was, in comparison to him, much slower, but she seemed only to be groggy from the hit. He went after Hartley instead, preferring to make himself the target in order to give Belén a chance to get back on her feet. Hartley followed Barry's quick movements around the police car, attempting to knock Barry out again. His attempts were futile as Barry easily zipped right back, and past Hartley, while swinging a very hard punch that sent Hartley to the ground. Barry stopped and grabbed him by the cloak.

"Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says," Barry couldn't help feel smug about the easy win.

Hartley, while being captured, didn't look too disappointed with his loss. If Barry had been paying more attention, he probably would have noticed. "Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see, I know his secret."

Barry didn't listen to his irrelevant words.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin and Cisco stood across the entrance elevator and waited for Hartley to be brought back to S.T.A.R. Labs. The elevator doors slid open and out came the two metahumans and one handcuffed culprit.

"Being scooped up by a guy clad in head-to-toe leather is a long-time fantasy of mine, so thanks," Hartley shot Barry sly smile as they walked in.

Belén, rubbing the side of her head on which she had hit herself thanks to Hartley's first attack, purposely groaned loudly. "If there is something you can put around his mouth that would be great."

"Let me help you," Caitlin told her, gesturing for them to leave. She wanted nothing to do with Hartley, just like Cisco.

"Not a very good fighter are you," Hartley eyed the already annoyed Belén. "Didn't last very long…"

"Yeah well you didn't last very long either so shut up," she snapped.

Hartley rolled his eyes, sighing so casually it might have been his home he was in instead. "I was thinking of calling myself Pied Piper."

There, Cisco had to cut in. "Hey! I assign the nicknames around here. Although...that one's not bad."

A crooked smile spread across Hartley as he looked to Caitlin - apparently he had some for everyone. "Caitlin...never did get that wedding invite." Belén stormed towards him but Barry gave him a hard shove.

"Shut the hell up!"

Caitlin persuaded Belén to come back with her into the cortex, thanking Belén anyways for the attempted defense.

~ 0 ~

"You should be fine, really," Caitlin concluded as she stepped away from the bed Belén was sitting on. Her head injury, while a bit painful, was nothing more than a light injury at that, needing no stitches or further examination.

"Thanks, Cait," Bells sighed and got up slowly. The pain in her head was subsiding with the pills given to her and she did feel actually a lot better than before. "What time is it? I'm probably dead late for work."

"Iris called…" Caitlin began, making a face.

Barry then came in, expecting to be thrown right back out. "Don't worry, I made up an excuse for you."

"Oh...thanks," Belén's eyes averted him as she walked by him.

Barry turned around and decided to follow, making another response, one more sassy. "Unless maybe you want to go back, you know, away from certain people?"

Belén stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "I think...I think I'll just stay here for a while...if that's okay."

"Why should I care, hm? Not exactly been in your consideration lately…"

Belén made a light noise of surprise as she fully turned around, visibly shocked of the comment. Caitlin, hoping to drive away a looming argument, stepped in between them. "I think we should focus on Hartley."

"There's nothing to focus on, he's been caught," Barry pointed out, eyes, slightly narrowed, still on Belén.

The ombre-blonde in turn remained with a guilty look. She knew deserved the jabs and she wasn't gonna argue a defence for her. "Where's Cisco?" she asked quietly.

"He's in the pipeline," Caitlin said, moving for the desk and hoping to dear God they would follow her. "And, to be quite honest, I don't like that idea of him being alone with Hartley."

"They really despised each other?" Belén was the first to move towards the desk.

"Like you wouldn't believe it," Caitlin turned on the speakers on the desk that would allow them to hear what was being talked about in the pipeline. "That's funny…" she leaned forwards, only able to see Hartley in his cell, speaking with someone alright but _not_ Cisco.

Dr. Wells was in the pipeline instead, and apparently something he had said had made Hartley scoff and loudly.

"Not bad... as far as heartfelt apologies go," Hartley said. "Except that wasn't for my benefit. That was for you, Flash." In his cell, he looked up to the camera, and in the cortex both Caitlin and Belén glanced over to Barry. The metahuman in question was not happy in being brought up, especially when Hartley began directing words to him instead. "Feels good to have the great Harrison Wells behind you, doesn't it? But one day, this man will turn on you...in a flash... And even you won't see it coming. I only hope that he leaves you in better shape than he left me. If you're lucky, you'll only be dead. Because every day I have to live with the agonizing, piercing screaming in my ears." He then turned to face in the general direction of where Wells was on the other side of the cell. "I almost forgot... I told your pet I know your deep, dark secret, Harrison. Have fun letting him in on that one."

The word 'secret' put the three in the cortex on edge, and when Cisco came in and learned of it, he too was put in the same state. Dr. Wells came in a couple minutes later expecting the silent, questioning looks from the group.

"I assume you were all listening. Well, Hartley was telling the truth. I have not been honest with you. With any of you." He took in a breath before he continued. "The accelerator...Hartley warned me that there was indeed a chance that the accelerator could explode. His data did not show 100% certainty, just that there was a risk, but it was a real risk. And yet I made the decision that the reward... that... everything we could learn and everything we could achieve, that all of that... simply outweighed that risk. I'm sorry."

An unsettling emotion took over everyone's faces. Caitlin was the first to stand and speak, and her voice shook as she did. "Then the next time you choose to put our lives, and the lives of the people that we love, at risk, I'll expect a heads up," she looked away and walked out of the room.

Cisco, having no words, but his face practically saying them, decided to make an exit as well. Belén bit her lip, crossed her arms, and stayed put.

"After the explosion, when everyone else left you…" Barry felt extremely uncomfortable, and partially pained from the revelation, "Caitlin and Cisco stood by you. You owe them more than an apology."

"They might soon get more than that what with Hartley so intent on sending me to the next world…"

"I don't think that is precisely what they would want," Belén said quietly. "It's more about trust, Dr. Wells-" she flinched at the quiet scoff Barry gave in return, assuming for her comment.

Having nothing to say then, Barry grabbed his jacket and left the room next.

With a deep sigh, Belén let her arms loose on her sides. "I can't fault you for the decision you made," she continued with Wells, attempting to make it seem like nothing happened. "Though I am very upset, because that decision is what led to my own brother being out there - a metahuman estranged from his family - I can't judge you. We all make decisions...whose consequences we don't quite foresee at the moment."

Wells tilted his head, inquisitive at the response. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"Haven't we all had that?" Belén gave a crooked smile.

"I would suppose, yes," Wells nodded. "But, if I may say, despite what you have heard from me, I do care for everyone's safety here, and _you_ are letting those decisions cloud your mind and they are putting you at risk out there."

Belén stiffened, for a minute fearing he knew what exactly those 'decisions' were. "Dr. Wells, I-"

"The reason we have not let your friend, Ms. Clarke, help you or Barry out in the field is because she is not capable yet. Now, if you fail to focus outside, you may become incapable as well and I will have to ask that you not accompany Barry out as well."

As much as it pained her, she knew he was justified. "I...know…"

"I may not be the indicated person for you to speak with, but I suggest you find someone, and fast."

"I know," Belén responded, rather breathlessly. "But...can I say something as well?"

"Sure."

"The trust, while broken, it _can_ be earned back," Belén gave a final smile before walking out of the room.

~ 0 ~

"Feeling better, Bells?" Cisco asked, in the middle of examining Hartley's confiscated gloves. Belén had come to stand by the threshold of the side room, clutching a cup of coffee in her hands. With a weak smile, she gave a nod. "I thought you may have gone back to work…"

Belén scoffed, saying quietly, "Not the place I want to be at."

Cisco stopped working to look at his friend, noticing how troubled - at least more than she had been recently. "Bells, you know...you know you can always talk to me right?" Belén smiled warmly and nodded her head. "You know, I don't know what's going on in your mind but whatever it is...it's kind of uncool for you to take it out on Barry."

"I'm very sorry about that, honest…"

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," Cisco gave her a light shrug, returning to his work.

Belén sighed and came further inside the room. "I do intend on doing that, trust me, I just...it's very hard...what I'm...processing…"

"Processing?" Cisco looked up from the gloves, though saw nothing as Belén had her back to him.

Belén tapped her fingers along her mug as she debated whether or not to finally confide in someone, and precisely Cisco. She didn't give Caitlin the opportunity but maybe it was better if one friend knew something and the other another thing. It made it easier on her at least.

"Belén, I'm here for you," Cisco said, as if seeing her internal debate.

Belén turned around, wearily coming up to the table. "Can you...for a minute," she tried again, "...can you just...be _my_ friend, please?"

"Bells, I kinda _am_ your friend," Cisco reminded with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, but...your best friend is Barry and what I need to tell you has to do with Barry - do you see the dilemma?"

"Kind of…" Cisco lied. He saw none of it.

"Let's just, for five minutes, pretend like Barry hasn't woken up from his coma and that you and I are friends. Can you do that...please?"

For her sake, Cisco nodded his head. "Okay, shoot."

Gratefully, Belén smiled. She took in a breath and gently placed her mug on the table before beginning. "When I was kidnapped, I waited for someone to come in and help...get me out of the warehouse Snart and Mick had put me in…"

Cisco nodded, so far on board. "Yeah, Joe and I went out looking for you but when we got there...you weren't anywhere…"

"Right, because, well...someone else rescued me."

"We figured - we _all_ figured. We just can't figure out who nor why you won't tell us anything about it."

Belén sighed and just said it all before she ran away. "My brother, Rayan, and Azul showed up and rescued me." Cisco's eyes widened. "Rayan's a metahuman. He has...I don't know, telekenetic powers, and he, quite literally, floated me out of harm's away."

"Cool," Cisco began to smile. "Ultimate powers."

Belén rolled her eyes. "Stay with me, please. Rayan knows that I've been looking for him, and when we were out of the warehouse, he asked me to come with him."

That got Cisco's attention.

"For so long, I had wanted nothing more than to find my brother," Belén's eyes began to glisten with looming tears. "He said that he would answer all my questions, and he would take me to where he'd been living all this time. We were supposed to reunite that night…"

"What happened?" Cisco asked quietly, assuming the worst. Belén looked down, her coffee becoming suddenly so interesting. "Bells, what happened?" Cisco repeated his question, trying not to sound so impatient. He could see this was in part what was troubling her as of late, but he could not understand what it had to do with Barry.

"I had to make a decision," Belén replied faintly.

"A...decision? What _kind_ of decision?"

Belén looked up, her tears already beginning to loosen at the corner of her eyes. "I was so happy that he had finally come for me - come to _see_ me - but then I saw the beams of the cold and heat guns in the city...and I realized Barry was probably out there fighting Snart and Mick. I told Rayan we had to go help, but he didn't want to," with a hand, she wiped a tear from her cheek. "He didn't care about the Flash, about the city. He wanted me to leave, and when I say 'leave'...I meant like he wanted me to forget about everything here. I kept insisting that...that we needed to go and help Barry, because...because that's what needed to be done."

"But he didn't want to," Cisco guessed sadly, beginning to realize what it all came down to.

Belén sniffed and began clearing up her tears on either side of her face. "I wanted to be with Rayan, but I kept thinking about Barry and how _he_ needed my help. I had to make a decision...and I chose to go find him."

"Bells…" Cisco slowly rose from his chair.

"At first, it hadn't really hit me what I did, but then days passed...and I realized 'holy shit I just gave up my brother for...for…"

"Barry," Cisco finished, connecting all the puzzle pieces at that moment.

"I don't mean to be rude to Barry but it's hard facing my decision every day, everytime he's in the room I'm reminded of what I did. It's not his fault. _I_ made the decision."

"Bells, this is something you should be telling _him_ , not me," Cisco said as kindly as possible. "If Barry knew then he…"

"He would feel guilty even when he did nothing wrong," Belén finished for him. "I know him, and I know that's exactly what he would do. I can't do that to him, Cisco."

"I think you should go and talk to him," Cisco stayed firm on his opinion. "Because, first of all, he needs to know what you gave up for him because _wow_ that was a lot-"

"It's not like that," Belén meekly said, though the tint of pink on her cheeks made it nearly impossible for Cisco not to smirk. It only got worse when Caitlin's words came back to mind.

"Second of all," Cisco forced himself to continue, "I think he deserves reasons for your behavior, don't you think?"

Belén lightly nodded. "Yeah…"

" _Sooo_ …" Cisco plopped back down on his chair, slowly getting back to his work on Hartley's gloves, "...I'm gonna switch to being Barry's bro and say I can't believe you did that-"

"Cisco! It's not like that!" Belén stomped her foot, mortified of where this conversation was headed to.

Cisco smirked widely, picking at some parts of the gloves. "Hmmm…."

Belén shook her head and picked up her coffee mug. "It's not," she repeated quietly, sipping her coffee afterwards.

She repeatedly shot down Cisco's accusations, until Caitlin made (thankfully, Belén internally thought) an entrance into the room. "Anyone seen Dr. Wells?"

"No, he probably thinks we don't want to speak with him," Belén jumped on the subject change fast.

"Barry was right," Cisco announced, looking up at them both. "Hartley was using sonic resonance. The intensity regulator's measuring decibels."

"I'm gonna pretend like I understood all that for the sake of time," Belén sighed and took the last drink of her coffee.

"You know what's weird?" Cisco rubbed his temple. "He had it set to the lowest setting."

Caitlin tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well... He could've completely destroyed his father's building if he wanted to in one blast."

"But...if he could do that...then…" Belén frowned. "Why didn't he just _do_ it and leave?"

Cisco eyes widened as he realized what truly had happened. "Unless he wanted to be caught!" He jumped from his chair and ran to the cortex to the computers. Belén and Caitlin rushed in afterwards and, through the computer, saw Hartley's cell was empty. Cisco moved to the comm. and called for Dr. Wells. "Dr. Wells! There's been a pipeline breach!"

"You think he's gonna come for us?" Caitlin looked at the two beside her.

Cisco didn't stop to answer. He warned them both, "Stay here," and ran off.

"I don't think so, Cisco," Belén rushed after him, ignoring his refusing looks. "I'm a metahuman, and I promise to pay attention."

"Bells-"

"C'mon!" Belén yanked him after her as they made it into the corridors.

What they didn't know was that as they ran towards the pipeline, Hartley was in the middle of making his grand escape. He pulled out one of his earpieces, enduring a high pitch whine in his ear as he placed the piece on the pipeline door sealing him away from the rest of the building. Belén and Cisco made it halfway in before the door blasted them backwards. When Hartley emerged, slightly disoriented from the blast, he was very pleased with the results.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin had heard and felt the blast from the cortex and was trying to get ahold of her two friends whom she feared had been hurt. "Cisco, can you hear me? Bells?"

She felt a presence behind her, and knowing it probably wasn't neither Cisco or Belén, she slowly turned around. Hartley stood there, and promptly smacked her hard on the head. Caitlin turned and fell to the floor, knocked out. Hartley spotted his gloves and ran to retrieve them. As soon as he had them, he ran back to the computers and started typing for something specific through the pages. Something loaded and downloaded and once he had what he needed, Hartley left the cortex and went to find the last person remaining in the building. Before he found Wells, the older man had already called in Barry, and it was only a matter of minutes until he was in.

When Caitlin came to, she saw Barry coming in. "Hey!" he rushed to go help her. "Are you okay?"

Caitlin felt groggy but was conscious enough to remember what had happened. "Yeah, uh, Cisco...Bells...and Dr. Wells…"

Barry understood and left her to go find the others. He came across Wells in the entrance, the man in his wheelchair and pretty collected despite being nearly attacked.

"He's gone," Wells said.

Finding both Belén and Cisco unconscious in the pipeline, Barry brought back both to the cortex to be treated by Caitlin. They lasted a couple hours unconscious, but still enough for them having to make yet another excuse for Belén's absence, this time at home considering Maritza was now there waiting for her. Early dawn saw their awake.

"My head…" Belén kept her eyes shut longer than did Cisco.

"You both need to rest," Caitlin announced from Belén's bed side. "You have concussions. You're lucky."

Cisco leaned up as much as he could. "Please tell me you got him," he looked at Barry pleadingly.

Barry shook his head. "I guess the attack on his family's company was a fake out so we'd catch him."

"And give him direct access to S.T.A.R. Labs," Caitlin sighed.

"So we basically got played," Belén frowned, now trying to sit up.

"I should've known he was up to something," Cisco muttered. "This is my fault."

"Hey, man. This is on me, too," Barry cut in, glancing at Belén to see how she was doing. In his sourness, he had left the place when he shouldn't have. Belén hadn't been on her game lately when they eerie out catching metahumans and he had left her in care for the others. He should have been more conscious instead of focusing on his feelings. "I shouldn't have left before…"

Wells came into the room. "This is no one's fault but mine. I earned the blame... I'm not interested in sharing it. Hartley doesn't think I've paid for my crimes. And he's right. He won't stop until I do."

"Where are you going?" Barry called as Wells turned to leave.

"To earn back your trust."

With those words, he left the group.

"I think one of us should go see exactly what that meant," Caitlin said cautiously. She was still upset with Wells, as was everyone else, but at the moment they couldn't afford to be attacked on their own again.

"I will," Barry volunteered, figuring he had nothing left to do there at the moment. It was very unlikely Hartley would return.

As he walked by, Belén gathered courage from Cisco's urging look and called out to him. "Barry? Can we talk, please?"

"Not right now, Belén," was the very short, curt answer she received. It was enough to shut her down and let him leave.

"I...deserve that," she uttered after a long moment of silence.

"Don't worry about it," Cisco tried to lighten up the mood. "He's just upset by all this."

"No, Cisco," Belén shook her head, ignoring Caitlin's desperate gestures to sit back down. "He's upset with me - and I deserve it for being a jerk."

"Where are you going?" Caitlin sighed in frustration as she walked towards the doors. "You can't leave, it's not safe for you."

"My sister's probably going crazy that I didn't come home to sleep. I won't even go into the fact I haven't been back to work since yesterday afternoon."

"Don't worry about that, we called in and told them you had an accident and that we'd be keeping you in for some observation," Caitlin explained, making Belén turn back to them. "So you see? There's no need for you to put yourself at risk today - not more than we need to anyways. Come back."

"Well...how come Cisco gets to get up?"

"Hmm?" Caitlin glanced back and saw Cisco's empty bed, the man in question already in another side room doing what looked like research on a tablet. "What - Cisco! Come back!"

"No! I need to figure out why Hartley let himself be caught!"

"You're like children, the both of you!" Caitlin scolded them both and huffed as she walked towards the desk, where at least Belén had taken refuge in for 'rest'.

~ 0 ~

"I thought moving in would be a step towards the solution!" Maritza, dressed normally, stood in front of her younger brother who was raiding a medicine cabinet. "I don't need your shouting at me, Rayan."

"And I don't need you talking so loudly, Maritza," Rayan rubbed his temple while the other hand plucked out medicine bottles. "And, if you wouldn't mind, I don't want to speak about...Annah-Belén."

Maritza rolled her eyes. "Using her full name won't erase the fact you're hurt, moron. So she chose to go help, big deal. I already told you that's just her personality! She needs to help others, that's why she became a...a…"

"Partner to the Flash," Rayan turned around, sourly looking at the taller woman. "The person she chose over me, her brother...her twin."

"She's just disoriented. She's been so far from family lately that she...I don't know, she didn't know how to react. But that's why I moved in with her, to make her remember that family is all we've got in this world."

"Well, as you just told me, that idea isn't working so well," Rayan abandoned the medicine cabinet and walked past Maritza. The room was full of cabinets and while there were barely any bottles he decided to go look into another cabinet. The killer headache was on its way to become a migraine.

"Caitlin called me earlier telling me Belén had an accident at S.T.A.R. Labs and that she had a concussion, so she would be staying over there to be monitored." Maritza crossed her arms, muttering, "Though if you ask me it probably happened because of the attack yesterday."

This intrigued Rayan, making him stop and turn his head to the side facing his sister. "What attack?"

Maritza arched an eyebrow. "What? Where've you been? Sulking?"

Rayan rolled his eyes and returned to the cabinet. If she only knew he had been battling constant headaches all day.

"There was an attack on Rathaway Industries yesterday and the Flash and the Azalea made an appearance," Maritza explained. "They say the guy who did it blasted them with some sort...wave thingy? I don't know, point is, that thing hurt our sister. I'm 99.9% this 'concussion' thing had to do with that. How am I supposed to make her remember family when she's out there playing hero with some guy and team?"

"Hey," Noah hurried into the room. "You guys have gotta see what's on TV right now."

Rayan rolled his eyes. "Nobody cares."

"Oh, you'll want to," Noah came up to them holding a tablet in his hands. "It's broadcasting everywhere," he told them.

On the screen of the tablet was Dr. Wells making an exceptional speech towards the public.

"Did he just say he knew the Particle Accelerator could blow up?" Maritza scowled, images of her late husband popping up in her mind. Had he suffered what this man had thought could happen?

"It looks like he just went through with the plan despite the consequences that could happen," Noah looked at the two siblings, wearing pretty much the same outraged expressions as them.

Rayan flicked his hand to the side, causing the phone in Noah's hand to splatter against the wall. He ignored Noah's indignant look and turned away, pressing his hands on the counter. "Harrison Wells knew that he could cause chaos and yet he willingly went through with it."

"He's the reason Christopher's dead," Maritza whispered, although sad her fury masked it perfectly well.

"And the reason my mother's dead," Noah breathed in.

"He is the reason why there are so many unhelped metahumans out there," Rayan turned to face them both. "And what's he doing instead? Getting his Flash and my sister to lock them for good - or worse."

"Belén is not a killer," snapped Maritza.

"We have to get this guy," Noah cut in before they began to argue.

"So we say without an actual plan," Angie appeared behind them.

"That was where Belén was supposed to come into help," Rayan growled, balling up his fists. But, his sister had decided to help someone else instead of her own blood.

~ 0 ~

By the time Wells and Barry had returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, they discovered not much had happened in their absence. Hartley had not made an appearance at all throughout the afternoon, leaving the remaining Caitlin, Belén and Cisco to just...wait.

"I don't know why you think Hartley would try to make contact with us in the same day, Dr. Wells," Belén wearily looked up from the chair she had made comfortable. With the concussion, she felt a headache from the back of her head, and her entireself just felt tired in general. She had her legs pulled up to her chest, and her head resting on her knees.

"Because he's Hartley, and he'll want to have the last word," Wells assured them all.

Barry noticed Cisco fervently working on a tablet in his hands. "Cisco," he sighed, "you should be resting."

"Hmph," Caitlin mumbled underneath her breath, "Been telling him that all day."

Cisco heard her and shook his head. "The answer to why Hartley fooled us into catching him is in here-" he pointed to the tablet, "-and I'm gonna find it." He pointed at them warningly as he made his way to another room. A couple seconds later, Wells went after him.

"Cait, are you sure I can't just...close my eyes…" Belén fought the urge to shut her eyes by attempting to focus on Caitlin's black skirt beside her, "...for a minute?"

"Play solitaire!" Caitlin abruptly slammed a hand on the desk, jerking Belén upright.

"I don't…" Belén yawned, covering it up with a hand, "...want to anymore." She lowered her hand and forced her eyes attention somewhere else for her sake. "Oh, Barry! Can we talk _now_ please?"

"What's brought on the sudden urge to speak with me?" Barry came up to the desk, looking down at her tired form, making it just a little more impossible to be mad with her. "Ever since last week you've done everything possible not to be in the same room with me."

"I know and I'm sorry," Belén said imploringly. "But...but I'm ready to talk, and - and I know I don't deserve it but...you have a right to an explanation."

Barry considered this silently, thinking she was absolutely right and that he most certainly had a right to know what was going on. He glanced at Caitlin, about to ask for a moment when sparks from the ceiling flew below, causing them all to crouch.

"What's that?" Caitlin exclaimed, slowly sitting upright again.

Hartley's voice emerged from the speakers that still surpriginsly worked. "Nice gambit, Harrison. But this isn't over."

Wells and Cisco came out of the side room at the chaos and Wells responded quite calmly. "Hartley, what do you want? What do you want, Hartley? I already gave my mea culpa today."

"The city already hated you. You don't think I noticed that press conference was a pathetic bishop sacrifice? No, no, no. I've played with you too many times to let you get away with that. This is between you, me, and The Flash."

Once again, Barry still wasn't pleased to be brought into this. However, once he thought of the damage that guy had done so far he wasn't so against fighting Hartley on Wells' behalf.

"You don't want to play for those kind of stakes with me, Hartley," Wells warned.

"Actually, I really do. What do you say? One last game of chess?"

"You and I both know that the winner of the game is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake, and you clearly have a move in mind."

~ 0 ~

From his spot at a roadside, Hartley had caused the pay machine across him to blast into pieces. Cars were barred from their journey.

"You're right," he smiled, continuing his 'conversation'. "And I'm already at the board. So why don't you move your precious scarlet knight while I take out a few pawns."

More sonic waves emerged from his gloves, pushing back several cars while blasting front view glass.

~ 0 ~

Barry wasted no time in switching into his suit. There was only the matter of finding Hartley. "Cisco, where do I go?"

Cisco tried to locate Hartley from the computers but seemed to be unsuccessful. "I can't trace the signal. He could be sending his messages from anywhere."

Wells came in closer and ordered, "Cisco, scan for seismic activity. If Hartley's using sonic blast, the vibrations could cause tremors."

"Barry," Belén made her way over to him, "maybe you should I come with you-"

"With a concussion?" Caitlin cut in, quite firm on her opposition. "I don't think so."

"But I-"

"It's fine," Barry told the ombre-blonde sternly. Though he was still upset with her, he didn't want her getting hurt yet again on his account.

With some help from Dr. Wells, they were able to locate Hartley in the Keystone Cleveland Dam, not that far from the city's outskirts. Hartley was in the middle of blasting cars over the edges when he found him.

"Barry, you need to disarm Hartley immediately," Wells warned as soon as possible. "Immediately! Do you hear me? He is a master of distraction. He is a master of hiding his true endgame."

Hartley stepped forwards and blasted several waves towards Barry. Seeing that was a fail, he changed targets and went for the cars on the road that still contained drivers. Barry went in and got everyone out in time, and this time he didn't wait for another proper confrontation and sped straight up to Hartley.

~ 0 ~

"Aha!" cheered Cisco who'd come running into the cortex with his tablet, having left Wells and Caitlin to take control of the computers. His smile vanished after a moment. "Uh oh…"

"Mm, no, let's go back to that 'aha' thing," Belén had taken her spot back on her chair again.

"I figured out what Hartley stole from S.T.A.R. Labs, why he let himself get caught!"

"And that brings us to the 'uh oh'," Caitlin said dreadfully.

"He has all the data on Barry's molecular scans."

Belén looked between the three scientists, hoping for an easy explanation. "And...what exactly can he do with that?"

Wells had the answer straight up. "He can get Barry's frequency." He moved over to the comm., intending on warning Barry. "Barry, you need to get out of there! You need to get out of there immediately!"

~ 0 ~

Barry had disarmed Hartley and thrown the gloves to the side. Hartley had been pushed to the ground but yet again he didn't look too disappointed.

"It's over! You lose!"

"Amazing," Hartley breathed in, truly looking awed for the moment. "He replaced me with you? Total _moron_. I got you with the same trick _twice_."

The gloves Barry had thrown to the side began to vibrate on the ground. As seconds ticked by, the vibrating grew louder and violent. Out of the nowhere, Barry felt a ripple of pain within him. He clutched his head and stumbled around, crying out in pain. "Ah! Uhh!"

Hartley smiled, satisfied with the results. "I got the idea watching you and Harrison chit-chat...to use your suit's own speakers to kill you." Barry fell to the ground, coughing up blood. Hartley neared him, lowering himself just slightly. "That feeling? That's your organs shearing apart. And you activated the frequency when you disarmed me. In chess, we call that a discovered attack. You don't see it until it's too late. Right, Harrison?"

~ 0 ~

"Barry's vitals are bottoming out," Caitlin looked up from the computer in front of her that was flashing red in warnings.

"I should have gone!" Belén had jumped from her chair to see for herself the mess they were now in. "We need to do something - I've got to go there!"

"You won't make it," Wells discarded that idea as he fiercely typed on another computer.

"What are you doing?" Cisco eyed him much like Caitlin did. Belén was looking at her own suit, as if wondering whether or not to listen to Wells' warning.

"Barry's on the travel road of the dam, at rush hour, surrounded by cars. Many of those cars are going to have satellite radio. Satellite sends a signal to the car, song comes out the speaker…"

"Yes! I know how satellite radio works!" Caitlin interrupted him. "How does that help?"

"Well, I'm gonna have the satellite send something other than a song. Hartley is about to hear something he was not expecting... a sound wave that will meet the frequency of and destroy his weapons."

~ 0 ~

Barry had turned flat on his back and was practically choking on his own blood. His hearing only contained a ringing that, for the love of God, would not go away. He see a blurry Hartley hovering on his side, still speaking but God knew what. And then, just like that, the ringing began to fade away.

Hartley heard a loud sizzling coming from his gloves and ran to see what was happening. "No! No! No!" he snatched them from the ground and tried to fix them again, but this time it was he that heard a loud ringing. He screamed as something warm dug into his palms - the gloves had began to hurt him instead. He let them roll off to reveal bloody palms and fell to his side, unconscious.

Slowly, Barry picked himself up and blinked rapidly as he recollected himself.

"Barry, can you hear me?" he heard Wells, partially, from the comm.

"Sort of!" Barry shook his head, hoping to finally get back to normal. "Okay…" While he wasn't quite there yet he was able to see perfectly again, and when he saw the unconscious Hartley across he felt more than at peace.

~ 0 ~

While Hartley was being placed away in the pipeline again, this time for good, Caitlin forced Barry to undergo a thorough exam to see if there had been any long-lasting effects from Hartley's attack. A few minutes after Caitlin asked Belén to help Barry get his face cleared of the blood leftover from his fight. She then walked out of the room to gather the results, which on a face to face basis already looked good, Belén gathered her little remaining courage to once again try and speak to Barry.

The metahuman was sitting at the edge of the bed, no longer in his suit but still with dried blood on the bottom of his face. Seeing her come in reminded him they did indeed have a pending conversation. Belén stayed near the threshold, in case she was sent back out - she honestly wouldn't argue if that was the decision Barry took. She deserved it.

"Can we...can I...talk?" she tried again, feebly. "Please?"

"Are you going to actually explain? Or leave midway?" Barry knew he was sounding rude, but at this point he was just tired of so much secrecy.

"If you're willing to listen...I'm willing to tell," Belén promised him. When Barry gave a nod, she took the moment before he changed his mind. "I guess you're smart enough to know this has something to do to when I was kidnapped last week?"

"Very," Barry nodded. Part of Belén was relieved to know he hadn't seen that stupid newspaper. "We all figure that much. What I just can't finish comprehending is why you're giving _me_ the sour treatment. I mean, what did I do?"

"Nothing," Belén reacted fast and urgently went up to him. "You did absolutely nothing wrong."

"Then...what is it? Why don't you want to talk to me anymore?"

Belén felt awful when she heard his words that were laced with confusion and hurt. Instead of giving the flat out response, she told the story. "My brother showed up to rescue me in that warehouse. He, along with Azul, got me out safe and sound."

Barry's mouth fell open, shocked. "You're brother came!? H-how did he...there was a...Joe said there was a bomb!" And that detail was what struck all of them the most odd. They wandered without a possible reason as to how Belén had managed to escape without setting off the bomb herself.

"Rayan is truly a metahuman. He had telekinetic powers and he used them to get me out," Belén explained. "He...he told me he'd been watching me, knowing that I've been looking for him. And when we were about to leave, he...he asked me to come with him. But...bet if I left, I was leaving for good." Belén has to make that clear so that Barry could at least understand a little why she reacted the way she did. "He wanted me to come with him, and in exchange we would be reunited...and he would answer all my questions."

But clearly that didn't work out, thought Barry. "So...so what happened?"

Belén lightly smiled. "I saw the gun beams shining from the city. I knew you were in trouble, so I told Rayan we needed to go help first. But he...didn't want to. In fact, his refusal was so big that in the he gave me a choice: leave with him at that moment and not look back, or leave him to go help you. I turned it around it on him, making him choose but...I guess by doing that I told him how I basically chose you."

Barry's eyes widened till they couldn't anymore. It was like a brick had hit him on they head, and he was sure it wasn't part of Hartley's hit. Suddenly everything made so much more sense.

Belén couldn't take his stunned look, feeling embarrassed and partially guilty she was laying this all out for him. She went to a nearby table and picked up cotton swabs and some alcohol to help clean off the dried blood from Barry's face.

It was a long two minutes before Barry could say some words. "You…you chose...you left your...brother...for _me_ …"

"To help you," Belén corrected, turning around and coming back. She gestured what she was gonna do and then proceeded to gently dab at a side of his face. "I don't want you to feel bad about this. I'm just...telling you all this because you had a right to know. I acted like a complete jerk and you deserve better."

Barry was still overly thinking about this revelation, and immediately feeling his own guilt. "Bells, I'm so sor-"

"You don't have to apologize. This was a decision I made, and-"

He grabbed the wrist of her hand that was near him and looked up at her. "That was a _huge_ decision you made. And you didn't even talk to someone about it."

"I talked with Cisco earlier," Belén tried to make it look less bad than it was. "He's the one that made me realize you needed an explanation."

"That's not what I meant," Barry gave her a sharp look.

"I know," sighed Belén, gently wiggling her wrist from his grip. "But, like I said, this was a decision I made. I just, at that time, didn't realize I would have to face it everyday."

"And by 'facing it' you mean me…"

"Not in that way but...yeah, and I'm sorry. It's just hard, and I know that is no excuse but…"

"You hadn't seen your brother in a near year and the only chance you had you gave it up - that's a good excuse," Barry released air he'd been holding in without consciousness. "A _very_ good excuse."

Belén couldn't come up with anymore words other than her repeated apologies. "I am _so_ sorry. Lately, I've been messing up and repeatedly apologizing, but this will be the last time - I promise."

"But your brother-"

"Everything seems to be in perfect condition," Caitlin came in looking at the results in her hands. "You are one lucky man, Barry Allen."

"Not so much luck as it is speed," Belén remarked quietly, thanking for the interruption. She got what she needed to get off her chest. "I think I am done playing doctor for the night-" Belén walked up to Caitlin and handed her the medical tools she was using on Barry, "-and I will go back to being a journalist. I gotta get home."

"I agree on that one," Caitlin nodded and took the tools. "And as far as Maritza knows, you just had a concussion, remember?"

"Got it," Belén did a thumbs up. She glanced back at Barry, looking nervous despite already having apologized. "I'll...see you tomorrow?"

Barry smiled at her, giving a nod and quiet 'of course' that made her beam. She waved once more to Caitlin before walking out.

"Well, is it safe to assume you guys are back on good terms?" Caitlin walked to the table on Barry's other side to put down all that she carried.

"Yeah," Barry cleared his throat, his voice lowering when he asked her, "do you know who rescued her last week?"

"Her brother," Caitlin made a face, still partially in shock the famous twin had made an appearance and yet none of them knew till now.

"Yeah - how did you know?"

"Oh, Cisco told me, after Bells told him it was alright to tell me anyways."

"Why would Belén go and tell him first?" Barry found himself asking out loud, much to Caitlin's amusement.

"Because they've always been a little closer," she turned around to continue what Belén had, unknowingly unsuccessful, tried to do.

"Why is that...again?" Barry further questioned, letting her swab away the blood from his face.

"Um, well, I don't know. They just seemed to hit it off initially. Why?" Caitlin pulled away for a second to teasingly smile his way.

"No reason," Barry quickly said, eyes darting to the other side.

Caitlin kept her comments to herself, but her teasing smiles were everlasting.

~ 0 ~

"I am actually very stuffed, Mar, I can't eat anymore," Belén promised Maritza as she pushed away an empty plate from her spot.

Maritza chuckled and too pushed away her own plate. She glanced at Axel who was still puncturing his peas with a plastic spoon. "I'm glad you were able to eat with us, though. I thought maybe after your concussion you might have wanted to go straight to bed."

"That was the idea," Belén admitted as she took a last sip of her drink. She'd gotten home intending on finally getting some needed rest, but Maritza had coaxed her into having a proper dinner. Feeling bad she was lying straight to her sister's face, as well as having not seen her for an entire day, Belén agreed to some dinner.

"Well I'm glad you stayed," Maritza looked at Belén with a sweet smile. "Because, well, family's kind of all we have right now."

Belén coughed awkwardly, wondering how Maritza would react if she knew their brother was still up and breathing. "Yeah…"

"I mean, I know we still have Mom and a couple of members but they're in Italy so, really, it's just us right now. Everyone else moved away."

"Their loss," Belén discarded their extended family members without a care in the world. "I always liked Central City better than any other place."

"Even Starling City?"

"Yup. I mean, don't get me wrong I love the people there, but this is my home. And I intend on staying here for many, many years to come."

Maritza acknowledged the statement with a nod, then, hesitantly, added, "Because this is where we grew up right? It's a...family sentimental thing?"

"Yeah," Belén nodded. "This is where...all of my memories are. I wouldn't give up any of this for anything."

"For your family, you mean…?"

"Yeah," Belén eyed her sister curiously. "What's with you? Are you alright?"

"Mhm," Maritza forced her mouth shut. Of course she couldn't say anything about knowing how awful Belén had been to their brother, nor how they were hoping she would recapicitate and come to them.

Belén pushed her chair back and got up. "Well, as family genes go, I'm gonna get some sleep. And, just like you, I'm gonna key into my hard-sleeper habits and sleep for another day."

Maritza smiled lightly as Belén cleared up her space and left the room.

Upon finally entering her dark room, Belén was able to release a large sigh. She locked her door and pulled off her jacket, tossing it to her bed. She rubbed her face, liking to think that this way all her problems would just disappear. But, coming back to the real world, she spotted one portrait she had on her vanity desk. She walked up to it and picked it up, unsure how to feel about it now. It was her graduation day, or rather, hers and Rayan's high school graduation day. Both dressed in golden cap and gowns, they beamed with radiant smiles as their picture was taken.

"How far have we come from then, huh, Rayan?" she whispered, tracing a finger down the edge of the frame. With another sigh, she put the portrait face-down on the desk. As she went to her drawers to take out her pajamas, she heard a distinct, quiet knock against her balcony doors. With the blinds covering the view, Belén slowly made her way towards them, expecting it to be some sort of hallucination her concussed mind had made up as a trick. But, upon pulling the blinds, she found Barry on the other side. She unlocked the door and slid it to the side, allowing Barry to come in.

"I don't mean to be rude but what are you doing here?" she asked him quietly in case Maritza was nearby.

"I was thinking about what you told me earlier," Barry ignored her and paced like he was in his room. "About Rayan, and how you left him, and-"

"Barry, shh!" Belén urgently told him, rushing to cover his mouth. "My sister is awake, please just...shhh!"

Nodding his head, his mouth was uncovered. He took in a deep breath and began once again. "I was thinking about what you said about your brother, and...I realized how much you gave up, and...Bells, I don't want you to give up anything that'll cost you your _family_. You need to find your brother, and you need to make amends right now or-"

"Barry, I won't do that," Belén declared firmly, yet her voice was low. "Rayan is not the brother I thought I was looking for."

"He's a metahuman," Barry tried to remind. "Of course he's going to be different. I mean, I'm sure you're much more different than when he last saw you."

"It's not just the biological differences. It's the way in which he acted...the way he's acting as of late." With a sigh, Belén walked over to the graduation portrait laying on her vanity desk and picked it up again. "My brother was a genius, a total nerd. He loved to build things - he was head of the engineer club in high school, and that's what he was going to be become in college: an engineer. He was a very kind man, though he had his moments with attitude. Now that man is gone. He's in league with rogue metahumans. He doesn't help people, he robs them. He manipulates feelings and gives ultimatums. That is not my brother anymore." Swallowing hard, she looked up to Barry, maintaining a pretty firm look. "I don't want to look for Rayan anymore."

Barry couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was going to give up the search for her brother!?

"He made his choice of becoming who he is now, and now I'm making _my_ decision."

"But he's...he's your brother, your family," Barry weakly argued back. He could see the battle was already lost by seeing her eyes.

"Yes," Belén agreed with a nod of her head. "Once upon a time. Now...he's...a metahuman. And, if he's a metahuman that's going rogue...we have a responsibility to lock him up."

"Bells," Barry sucked in a breath, totally astonished with her words.

Belén's face showed signs of falter as she went on, but she did actually go on. "Thank you for all your help, but I don't need it anymore. I'm also going to call Felicity and tell her the search is off. Ultimately I got what I wanted. I found Rayan. I just found a different version of him that I simply cannot agree with."

Barry accepted her wish with a small nod. He couldn't very well force her to search for someone she no longer wished to. All he could do now was just be a supporting friend. When Belén walked up to hug him, he did not continue pushing but just hugged her back. She'd gone through so much lately he should just be glad she hadn't fallen apart.

But that was Bells for you, she was much stronger than she appeared.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I love writing angsty Bells/Barry have you noticed? I should be ashamed I know but...Lock me up in the pipeline too, I guess xD

 **For the Review:**

 **GraceEllingson:** Thanks so much! I really hope you liked this chapter too! :)


	16. I'm Crazy For You

"Pay up!" Belén laughed and held her hand out to her older sister. "Hey, just remember that it was _you_ who wanted to play Monopoly. I just wanted to watch a movie."

With a glare, Maritza handed the required cash over to Belén. "You are so cheating."

"See this is why I don't like playing games with you - you are a sad sore loser!"

Maritza gasped in offence while Belén counted her fake Monopoly cash. Suddenly, her cell phone went off. She picked it up beside her and took the call without even seeing the ID.

"Yellow?" she said then blinked ghastly. "Oh my, that was such a dorky thing to say. Forget I ever said that please-"

While Maritza could not hear who was on the other line, she had a good idea who it might be judging by the sudden rapidness in Belén to leave the house. There went her tenth attempt to have a proper family night.

"Where are you going?" Maritza called but Belén was already halfway towards the door.

"I, uh, completely forgot I had to go help Caitlin with, uh...painting!"

"Painting?"

"And drinking!" Belén closed the door behind her, figuring that excuse could be valid. She rushed off the portch steps and ran down to the streets where, in a couple more seconds, she turned into nothing but vines and went towards her destination.

~ 0 ~

An upturned car under a livewire was the center of the needed appearance of the vigilantes. A couple was trapped inside, and neither could figure out how to get out of it. Outside there were several firemen arriving on the spot to help.

There was a tap on the passenger seat, and the woman glanced to see a woman in green smiling kindly from the other side. "Hang on, we're gonna get you out."

While Belén worked on her side, Barry stood on the other side intending on helping the man there out. Using his vibration methods, he was able to get the driver's door off its hinges and thus the man out as well. Meanwhile, Belén was using her thick vines to pull the door off its hinges. As Barry took the man out of the car and to safety with the firemen, Belén reached in for the woman.

"You'll be okay now," Barry promised the young man who literally feared for his life.

Just as Barry glanced back towards the car to see how Belén was doing, a spark from the livewire managed to touch spilled gasoline on the ground. A great flame started that spread towards the car and immediately caused an explosion.

The man beside him nearly lost it thinking his girlfriend had been consumed by the flames. Barry was in a similar state thinking Belén had not been fast enough. In his mindset, he forgot who they were at the moment and where they were as he called out to her. "Bells!"

"You know, the whole point of having secret identities is so people won't know who you _are_ ," he heard a perfectly calm voice behind. When he turned around there stood his partner with a scared woman beside her, both untouched from the flames.

"Dana!" the rescued man called with great relief as his girlfriend ran to his side.

Barry wasted no time in coming up to Belén to inspect her for any noticeable injuries. When he saw nothing, he gave her great, big hug. Surprised, Belén just laughed.

"Thank you," the phrase from the saved man cut their moment short.

"You're welcome," Belén cheerfully waved them goodbye before taking off with Barry.

~ 0 ~

Once back at STAR Labs, Cisco got to work on a mildly charred suit.

"Dude. That was insane," Cisco was still in awe over the recent incident. "I mean, that was just...wow! Although," he sobered a little then, "I'm having trouble understanding how you dirtied up my suit while Bells here came out without a single mark."

"Mm, that's because girls are neater," Belén called from the computer desk where she, Caitlin and Dr. Wells were.

Barry, who sat nearer Cisco, frowned. "That's not true for every guy."

"Yeah, it is. Look, my brother was a slob and he was a genius. My dad, same story. Cisco, I'm sorry but it's true as well. And you, Barry, are the same story. Don't forget I stayed in your old room for sometime. You're all slobs!"

Caitlin snickered from the side, while Barry and Cisco exchanged unamused looks.

"I think perhaps it's time to call it a day," Dr. Wells declared after a minute, eyeing them all with a slight smile. "Proper rest is what you all need."

As he left the room, Cisco came up with an alternative option. ""Better yet, what we all need is a proper drink. Who's up for a round?"

Barry got up and went up to his draped jacket left near his suit. "Oh, dude, it's... It's movie night with Joe. I can't. But I'll see you guys tomorrow, all right?"

"Yeah, I can't either," Caitlin shook her head, getting ready to leave as well.

"I'll go," volunteered Belén, having Cisco perk up instantly. "I don't feel like playing monopoly anymore. I could do with a drink."

"Excellent," Cisco pointed at her. "And I know your favorites!"

"I'm not drinking vodka, though!"

Silently, Barry watched them go back and forth about what drinks they would be buying. He couldn't understand it yet, but he didn't feel to ecstatic about the two going out...on their own. Why would they need to go out on their own anyways? Why couldn't they wait until they _all_ went out as a group instead?

"Barry," Caitlin's call made him snap out of his thoughts. He looked at her with slight widened eyes. "Your phone is ringing," she pointed.

"Oh," he fished out his phone from his pocket and saw Joe's name on the ID. "It's Joe, I'm late. I should...go…" Caitlin smiled and nodded for him to leave, but as he left he kept throwing back looks at Belén and Cisco who were in deep conversation of where they were to go.

Caitlin waited for the two to sort of end that conversation so that she could get to something inportant before she too left. "Cisco?" she called ans grabbed his attention. "Funny thing, I was looking for my tablet at your workstation, and I found this." She held up his tablet that was on an article of F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.

Cisco blinked rapidly. "I can explain. I know you said we should stop looking for Ronnie, so I... didn't stop looking for Ronnie."

Belén giggled at his honesty.

Caitlin was in no mood to laugh at the moment. "Why?"

"Hartley. He said he knew what happened to Ronnie-"

"Oh, Hartley Rathaway, who is currently locked up in our super-villain basement jail for going psycho with sound waves?"

"Yeah, he's not a very reliable source," Belén apologetically looked to Cisco.

"He's made some poor choices. There's no argument there," Cisco nodded his head in agreement. "But I looked into what he was saying and…"

"Cisco," Caitlin interjected, "Ronnie's gone, and it's time for me to move on with my life,"

Cisco looked at her a moment before mumbling. "Doesn't seem like it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I'm not an expert on love, but I think in order to move on from Ronnie, you actually have to _move on_."

"And he means that in the nicest way possible," Belén added after an awkward pause, throwing Cisco a warning look to stop talking. He did, and with the nicest smile possible, Belén led him out of the room, leaving Caitlin to ponder on Cisco's last words.

~ 0 ~

Next morning, early morning, Iron Heights became the new spot for a CCPD crime scene. Barry inspected the lonesome cell that once belonged to a Clay Parker who, as of last night, had mysteriously made an escape without needing to unlock the cell door. There was no clue as to how he did it.

"Hey," Joe walked into the cell holding a small notepad in hand. "The security cameras in half the prison are shut down. Then Clay Parker, according to this data log, who was still locked in his cell, somehow vanishes."

"Not completely," Barry shook his head, coming to show Joe a small vial that seemed to contain black specs of some sort.

Joe eyed the vial. "What's that?"

"It's some kind of organic particulate residual. I found it on the floor in here, just outside the cell, out in the hallway. Trail led me all the way outside…" Barry stopped at the sight of his father walking in from the corridor. "Dad!"

Henry chuckled at his son as he was given a hug. "So... Word around here is, Parker pulled a Shawshank?"

Joe nodded. "Yep, and none of the other prisoners heard or saw anything."

"Well, they wouldn't talk to you about it."

"Leaves us with not a lot to go on," Barry sighed, though he could not feel an ounce sad about it when he had his father right in front of it.

"Well, if there's anyone who can figure out how Parker got out of here, it's you, Son," Henry smiled.

The guard that had brought Henry by rugged him by the arm. "Come on, Allen, let's go."

"Duty calls," Henry sarcastically told the other two.

Barry waved him goodbye then turned to Joe suspiciously. "So, my dad just happened to come by?"

"The guard owed me a favor," Joe shrugged.

"Thank you," Barry sighed, for once actually happy.

~ 0 ~

"Where are you going?" Belén asked Noah when she saw the young man leaving his desk to accompany two other of their colleagues.

"Working on the new escape case in Iron Heights," Noah studied Belén's reaction. "You...don't know about it?"

"I know _about_ it but not that we were working on it," Belén clarified, rising from her chair to look at the other two colleagues behind Noah. "Why wasn't I asked to join?"

One of the colleagues, a middle aged man, gave her a scornful look. "We figured you wouldn't want to tell us anything you knew of."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Belén frowned.

The second colleague, a brunette woman, responded equally rude. "Since you don't want to let CC Picture News in on anything why bother to write with us?"

Belén blinked, but said nothing more. She knew exactly what they were talking about then. Noah gave her an apologetic look before following the other two away. A couple minutes later arrived Iris, who more or less assumed what had happened.

"I can't believe they're still holding my own kidnapping over my head," Belén plopped back on her chair. "I can't take more of this I swear."

Iris comfortingly patted her shoulder. "It'll blow over, you'll see."

Belén scoffed. "It's been weeks now, Iris, and they still won't give it up."

"Give what up?" Linda walked by and stopped at the sight of Belén. "What's happened to you?"

"They still think Belén is holding back on them with her kidnapping details," Iris explained, but Linda remained unfazed.

"Still?" she looked at Belén again. "Well, we are dealing with journalists. It's their job to hammer people down."

"But she says she does not know anything," Iris then spoke lower about the real problem. "She didn't actually meet the Flash."

Linda sighed, but she looked almost as disbelieving as the rest. "Well, maybe Belén is...you know, holding out. Which I Would totally understand considering the parahnas we have around here."

Belén looked up to Linda with a disappointed face. "Thanks, Linda, my mentor and she isn't on my side."

"Oh calm down," Linda playfully rolled her eyes. "I'll see what I can do, but you'll have to toughen up in the meantime and, you know, it wouldn't hurt to come up with a killer story for this week."

"There's no way to do that when they won't let me into the group anyways," Belén huffed as Linda walked away, letting her head drop into her desk. Iris came back and amusingly smiled at her friend while trying to cheer he up a little.

~ 0 ~

Figuring there was something overly odd in this case, Barry and Joe moved to STAR Labs for some help. They pulled up on a computer the evidence Barry had found in the cell.

"Not even Barry's cells move this fast. I've never seen anything like it," Caitlin remarked in awe.

"So Clay Parker is a meta-human?" Joe asked for some confirmation.

"Not so fast. The particulate residue Barry gathered at Iron Heights does contain Clay Parker's DNA, but also DNA of a woman," Dr. Wells revealed and made everyone look back at the screen to see for their selves.

"Run her DNA against the CCPD criminal database," instructed Barry. "See if you get a match."

Cisco typed for a moment before exclaiming, "Yahtzee!" and pulled up a profile of a young, dark-skinned, woman on the screen. "Her name's Shawna Baez. Mostly petty crimes, and this girl likes to party, apparently. Long list of disorderly conducts at local bars."

"So I'm guessing we find her, we find Clay Parker," Joe concluded.

"Yeah," Barry moved to leave with Joe.

Wells did the same with his team. "In the meantime, let's track these particulates and see how they work."

"I'll be right with you guys," Cisco called towards them, but after they left he moved in an entirely different direction...towards the pipeline.

~ 0 ~

Later that evening, Barry met Iris for some coffee before going home. He was pleasantly surprised to see Belén arriving with Iris. He realized he hadn't seen Belén all day since last night...when she went for drinks with Cisco. The mere thought put him in a mood he did not yet understand why.

"What's your smile about?" Iris greeted him with that.

"I saw my dad today. No glass, no phones. Just me and him, face-to-face," he shared delightfully. "Joe arranged it,"

Iris smiled softly. "That must have been amazing, Barry."

"Yeah. I really needed it."

"Were you there investigating the breakout?" Belén curiously wondered as she walked to their table with a to-go cup tray.

"Mm-hmm," it was then that Barry noticed something was off with her.

"That is a big story," she sighed, sliding Iris her cup. "That I am not a part of."

"Why not?"

Belén wondered if it was right to tell him considering it had a lot to do with him, well...most of it. Iris saw no problem in sharing for her.

"The editor and the writers think she's holding out on the deets of her kidnapping."

"Which I told them a gazillion times I'm not," Belén clarified meaningfully to him.

"But no one believes her," Iris finished for her. "They think she knows the Flash and is just hiding it. They want the story. Even Linda seems to doubt her."

"Yeah, but I'm okay with her - I know her," Belén waved that one off. "Plus, she would never do what the others are doing to me. She's a good colleague."

"Uh, hello?" Iris sarcastically waved at her.

"Along with Iris West," Belén added with a small smile. "And, I guess, Noah. But other than them I'm screwed. I really think I could lose my job if this keeps up."

"What can we do?" Barry quickly asked, but Belén knew what he really meant. What could he, as the Flash, do to help her?

"Nothing," Belén gave him a sharp look. She didn't want him to do anything on her behalf that could jeopardize his secret identity.

"I think what Linda said is true," Iris said, missing the exchange of looks. "I bet if Bells writes a killer story about this recent breakout in Iron Heights, this will blow over." Unfortunately, while Iris seemed sure, Belén failed to do the same.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin moved to the computer desk after seeing Belén and Barry coming in. She had found something interesting she needed to show them in case they came across either Shawna or Clay, or perhaps both.

"Little down, Bells?" Caitlin asked as she turned the computer on.

"Nothing to worry about," Belén discarded it, much more interested in what Caitlin had to show them.

"I was analyzing the particulates that Clay Parker and Shawna Baez left behind, and I found something very interesting," she began to explain. "When Clay's cells come into contact with Shawna's, they adopt her properties," she began biting her lip endlessly that both Belén and Barry had noticed in a snap.

Amused, Barry asked, "Something bothering you?"

Caitlin let go of her lip and looked at them. "Why would you ask that?"

Belén chuckled. "Because you're doing that biting your lower lip thing that you do when something's bothering you."

Caitlin cleared her throat and straightened up, looking positively offended. "Cisco basically said I don't have a life! And Bells was there as a witness."

The pointed finger her way made Belén chuckle. "He said it in the nicest way possible."

"There is _no_ nice way to say that!"

"But, I mean," Barry awkwardly coughed, "you don't, do you?"

Caitlin frowned. "I do! I cook and I eat and I read and I help you guys-"

"So, what you're saying is, you do everything that has nothing to do with having a life."

This time, Belén smacked him on the arm. "And he means that in the nicest way possible."

Caitlin grumbled, crossing her arms. Barry chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not doing any better than you. My social life consists of running at superhuman speed and Netflix."

"I'm more or less the same," agreed Belén with a weary sigh. "The only good thing right now is me getting my practice on with the aerial dance team. Oh, and, Hulu is much better."

Caitlin was about to declare them all losers when the computer chimed an alert. "There's an armed robbery in progress. Two suspects, male and female in their 20s. Sounds like our meta-human Bonnie and Clyde are at it again."

"We should go," Belén started for her suit.

"How could you think Hulu is better than Netflix?" Barry still found time to ask about that as he followed her. "It has commercials!"

"Then pay you cheapskate!"

"It's free on Netflix!"

Caitlin smiled to herself while the two metas went back and forth. She was just glad they were able to get a move on despite ending on disagreeing sides.

~ 0 ~

Shawna and her recently freed boyfriend, Clay, were certainly in action stealing money from a bank truck. While Clay kept the driver and passenger of the truck occupied via gun point, Shawna grabbed two full bags of money and teleported to their getaway car. When she finished placing the bags in the trunk, she heard a wind pick up and looked around to see the Flash.

"Oh, I've read about you," she mused, putting her hands in her back pockets like it was a casual moment. "You're The Flash. I've heard you're real fast. Let's see if it's true." She teleported a distance behind Barry, calling out, "Catch me if you can."

Barry took the easy challenge and sped up behind her, easily grabbing her. "I can."

Shawna rolled her eyes and teleported again, this time appearing on a staircase landing of a construction building.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Barry groaned. Perhaps he could have instead taken up the task of getting Clay and the two civilians, but Belén had quickly volunteered to do so herself. So, he sped up to the landing but the moment he touched Shawna she teleported, and this time with him, to the second floor. Hanging awkwardly from the rails, Shawna smirked down at him.

"Not too many men can keep up with me," she waved and teleported near the car again.

"Then let's make it a ladies' fight," Belén had appeared beside her and flat out punched Shawna across the face. "I can disappear too, you know."

Shawna, clutching her cheek, got back up with a fury of danger. She teleported behind Belén and effectively kicked her on the back. She wished she had some sort of weapon to have a better defence.

Belén whirled around, angry herself. "Well!" She felt the _other_ side of her powers absorb that anger to turn it into something else. _You can't lose control, you can't,_ she told herself repeatedly. She flexed her hands and took in deep breaths in hopes of calming that side down.

She didn't get the chance to actually retaliate when she heard a ringing shot behind her. Halfway turning, Barry pushed her out of the way and the two rolled to a stop on the ground. Belén blinked rapidly, out of shock, and looked up at Barry. Closeness factored in pretty fast for the two but their masks were enough to hide their red faces.

"Your arm..." Belén gasped when she saw the bullet embedded in Barry's right arm.

"What...?" he got off her and spotted the bullet in his arm.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin was not an ounce happy treating a particular injury on Barry. "This is a bullet wound," she declared as if repeating it would make it more severe. "You're lucky it just barely grazed the skin."

Barry took her scolding silently, more or less bored. Meanwhile, Belén who stood on his side, looked more concern for the both of them. "I thought I knocked Clay out," she said once again, "I don't understand how he was up and ready to shoot me."

"We're thankful he didn't," Dr. Wells said, less concerned and less upset than both women.

"Barry, I'm sorry," Belén turned to him. "That is the last time you literally take a bullet for me, okay?" she blamed herself for being so focused on her powers. She missed the obvious - a man with a gun - and nearly caused her friend to get _shot_.

"It's no problem," Barry shrugged as he grabbed his jacket lying on the end of the bed. "I don't even feel anything."

"I owe you big time," Belén sighed, thinking of how long that list must be by now.

"It's fine, Bells," Barry said for the last time before going into their main discovery of the day. "Shawna Baez. She can teleport."

Caitlin blinked. "As in, 'Beam me up, Shawna'?"

Wells seemed much more excited as he laughed. "Yes, of course. Quantum entanglement. The ability to manipulate interconnected particles over an infinite distance. Or, as Einstein put it, "spooky action at a distance."

"Every time I got close, she'd disappear," Barry sighed. "It was like we were playing a game of…"

"Peek-a-boo!" Caitlin suddenly exclaimed, receiving odd looks from the trio. "Come on. Can't I name one?"

Belén smiled at her a moment then moved on. "How can we capture someone if we don't know where she's gonna be?"

"Everybody has limits," Wells reminded. "Now that we know Shawna's powers, we'll focus on those limits."

"That would be great," Belén sighed, now more determined than ever to capture Shawna.

"C'mon Bells," Cisco led her out the room. "Let's just get you home, yeah? It's all fine."

"Mhm," the woman gave a small nod as they left.

"I told her I was fine," Barry said after it was just him and Caitlin. "Why did she go off with Cisco again?"

Caitlin smiled to herself, something Barry caught, as she returned to the cortex. "Any particular reason why that's bothersome?"

"I didn't - no, I didn't mean it like that," Barry came walking after her. "I was just...I was just asking a question-"

Caitlin bumped into him when she turned around, surprising him in the process. "Really? So that face is just meant to be casual?"

"I - Caitlin!"

Caitlin chuckled as she went around the desk. "It looks like I'm the winning the bet after all."

"What bet?" Barry frowned at her.

She sheepishly smiled and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. "Well, don't get mad, but, um...Cisco, Dr. Wells and I made a bet about you and Belén."

"What?" Barry's frown further deepened and was mixed in with some offence. "How...this is a joke right? Right?"

Caitlin shook her head. "I thought it was a playful thing, you know. But I ended up winning. Three months and you're ready to ask her out!"

"Caitlin Snow I never thought you were capable of such a thing!" Barry turned away, mostly because his face was getting warm and red.

"I know," Caitlin said, but her laughter made her sound not that apologetic about it. "But if you ask me about it, I think you and Belén would make a nice couple."

"Caitlin..." Barry gave her a sideways glance, "I'm not...asking...no. I...I'm not."

"Why not?" Caitlin earnestly asked.

Barry gave a little smile, almost nervously laughing. "We're not actually doing this, right?"

"Doing what?"

"Talking about... _this_?"

"We don't have to," Caitlin raised her hands, showing him this was all up to him. "I just gave my opinion, but no one is forcing you to do anything you don't want to."

"Well, it's not that I wouldn't like to..." Barry swayed his head, really trying to ignore how warm his face felt. He had been admittedly thinking a little more about Belén than any other friend. In a very short time he discovered she was incredibly sweet, quirky and definitely rambled a lot. He liked when she rambled a lot. "She's...she's my friend..." She was a really good friend...and perhaps that was the problem. There was a risk that maybe Belén didn't even see him that way and it would just end their friendship. "What if I end up ruining that by actually asking her out?"

Caitlin warmly smiled. "Being scared is normal, especially if it is between friends. But I guess you just have to ask yourself if you really want to try things with Belén - do you think it's worth it?"

"I...I don't know," Barry felt terrible answering. "I've only just started thinking about this. I'm not sure about anything."

"Then just think about it," Caitlin said. "No rush at all."

"Yeah," Barry nodded, really intending on doing that. He bid her goodnight and returned home. He found the West residence completely empty. Joe and Iris must be still working. He found the kitchen empty and, unfortunately, empty of food as well. After a moment's pause, he pulled out his phone and dialed for Caitlin.

"Hello? Still need to talk?"

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, no. I just wanted to know what bars did Shawna go to again?"

"Uh, mostly south side dive bars. Why?"

"I was just gonna check 'em out. See if they fall into any old habits."

"That's a good idea...mind if I join you?"

"Sure!"

The two exchanged details of their first stop before hanging. Just as Caitlin was about to put her phone down she got another idea. Oh, she was being sneaky and she was never sneaky. Cisco might have been proud of her right there.

~ 0 ~

The bar Barry had chosen had, apparently, a karaoke stand where basically anyone could get up on. And unfortunately, not everyone who went up there had the right singing voice. He was having himself a drink, just for show considering he couldn't actually get drunk, while watching a man attempt to sing. He was on alert for Caitlin who was supposed to be coming in any moment now. So, when he saw not Caitlin but _Belén_ crossing through the doors, nicely dressed, he nearly choked on his drink.

"Bells…?"

Belén seemed just as surprised as Barry was upon seeing him. Still, she scurried down the bar up the table in a pair of black heeled shoes. "Barry, hi," she said rather breathlessly as she set her purse down.

"What are you...doing here?" Barry couldn't help giving her a look-over.

She was dressed in an off-the-shoulder emerald blouse with short sleeves, tucked underneath a black leather skirt. Her lips were painted a deep read which were twisted into a smile. It was quite a sight.

"Caitlin called," Belén answered.

 _Caitlin you sneak_ , Barry cursed.

Belén pushed back some of her curled hair. "She was in a hurry but she said if I wanted to go out and since I wanted to get away from Maritza I said yes in a heartbeat. I guess she just forgot to mention you were here too."

"Is that a problem?" Barry asked, momentarily confused.

"No," Belén laughed and took a seat beside him. "Although now I'm self conscious of my clothing choices. I guess this is metahuman work time?"

"No, no, you look nice," Barry assured, and by the third look over Belén caught on and blushed.

"So tell me, what are we doing?" she cast a look towards the karaoke stand.

"Uh, well, so far just...listening," Barry pretended to flinch when the singing man hit a high key off.

"Guys!" they heard Caitlin calling for them. She arrived wearing a tight, shiny black dress and curled hair. With a beam she plopped down across them.

"Thanks for half explaining things to me," Belén mocked a scold.

"This is where Shawna Baez and Clay Parker used to hang out?" Caitlin looked around but discreetly smiled at Barry. There was no shame in pushing a little, she told herself after she made the call to Belén.

"It is, according to the files," Barry nodded.

"Is that what we're doing?" Belén clumpy said. "Man, I could have wore jeans for this."

"I thought we could kill two birds with one stone," Caitlin shrugged.

"And what would that be?"

"Look for them and get ourselves back out there," Caitlin announced, startling the two. Yes, maybe she was pushing a little but it was fair game as long as she did not disclose anything both Barry and Belén had told her about them.

This surprised Belén, and for some reason she glanced at Barry. "You want to date?" she definitely did _not_ mean to ask that in a disappointed manner. The words just came out of her mouth before she could even think.

Barry blinked, caught off guard by her question. "Uh - well, n-not...not e-exactly…"

"Oh, c'mon!" Caitlin ignored their awkward moment and reached for the drink Barry had been mindlessly drinking. "I'm pining for someone who bursts into flames and wants nothing to do with me, Belén's a bit traumatized from her last relationship and Barry's not gathered enough courage to ask someone out. We're kind of - for a lack of a better word - losers."

"Well, I mean, she's not wrong - wait, you want to ask someone out?" Belén had just processed all of Caitlin's words and now looked at Barry again.

"What? You're afraid of moving on from Carlton!" was Barry's genius response.

Caitlin buried her nose into the drink that wasn't even hers. She might have gotten a little carried away there.

"Well, I think I'm justified," Belén said, mildly offended. "My last boyfriend kidnapped me. That's far worse than anything. Your petty fears are nothing. Girl's going to be lucky," she looked down at the table, processing the way she felt at the moment. She didn't want to say she was _upset_ or anything just because Barry was thinking about asking someone out, but...yeah, she might be actually.

Caitlin had finished the glass in her hand and shifted on her chair to call a nearby waitress. ""Excuse me? I would like to start a tab."

"Oh, this cannot go well," Belén mused and shared a laugh with Barry.

True to her word, Belén was witness to a different version of Caitlin...a much more _drunk_ version of Caitlin. Barry and her tried stopping Caitlin but she was adamant to keep going and to have some fun. Belén went up to the bar counter in an effort to get some water for Caitlin, but she had to wait for the bartender to get rid of other customers. Barry had volunteered but for some reason the bartender seemed to ignore his calls. Still, she was taking an awful long time, so much that eventually Barry went over to check on her.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, taking a seat on the empty stool beside her.

"Long line," Belén gestured to the crowd at the end of the counter. "Um, where's Caitlin?"

"At the table," Barry pointed to...their empty table.

"Where is she!?" Belén straightened up, ready to jump off and go in search for their drunken friend.

There was a noise from the stage up ahead and next thing they knew, someone was calling for…

"Mr. Barry Allen! Come on down! Or up!" Caitlin giggled to herself, using the microphone to sustain herself.

Belén covered her mouth with her hand to hide her growing smile. She was wrong- this could possibly end well.

Barry, mortified with the extra attention he was now getting from the audience, repeatedly rejected the idea. "I'm not doing it…"

"Come up here with me!" Caitlin insisted, motioning with a hand for him to come over. "Oh, come show 'em what you got!"

Barry did a cutting motion across his neck, shaking his own head. "No...n-no…"

Caitlin refused to take a 'No' and called upon the audience to meet him on. "Barry! Barry! Barry!"

Barry rubbed his face, thinking of an evil way to get back at Caitlin for this. He owed her a lot tonight! Suddenly, he heard a distinct voice joining the cheering crowd. He dropped his hand and glanced to his side to see Belén teasingly smiling his way, actively cheering.

"No, not you too…" he shook his head.

Belén laughed, gently pushing him forwards. "Go on, Barry!"

Caitlin raised a fist pump into the air when she saw him coming up to the stage. "Ooh, look at him go. He's so fast!" she slapped a finger to her lips and made an 'Oops' face as he stepped on.

Barry shook his head at her. "You know I'm not much of a singer. And you're not much of a drinker."

"We are gonna bring this place down!"

Barry could not see himself getting away from this situation anytime soon. "Okay, just…"

Belén made herself comfortable on her stool as the song 'Summer Nights' began playing. She was not surprised to hear Caitlin singing off key - it was rather amusing. She pulled out her phone in time to catch the singing session.

" _Summer lovin', had me a blast…_ "

 _"Summer lovin' happened so fast, I met a girl, crazy for me…"_

Belén was shocked to hear Barry's _perfect_ singing notes. In comparison to Caitlin, it sounded like Barry had been practicing forever. She fell out of her teasing - sort of - and listened to the entire song.

When the song was over, she purposely cleared her throat loudly. "You're fast, you're a scientist _and_ you can sing?" Barry responded in a light chuckle, not realizing Caitlin was lagging in catching up. "I'm starting to think _you_ are the triple threat here."

"No...no," Barry sat down beside her, blushing red as she laughed.

"I'm so happy I can show this moment to everyone else tomorrow," Belén waved her phone in front of him, showing him the video of him and Caitlin singing.

Barry's eyes widened in alarm. " _No_!" Belén jerked her hand to her chest before he could snatch her phone away. "You are….evil!" Barry couldn't find the right words to express his horror.

"Mm, I think I was more...smart...or clever...no wait, that's the same thing," Belén tilted her head as she thought out loud. "I wonder what I would be like if I _were_ evil?"

"You can't be evil," Barry flat out told her.

"What? Why?" Belén eyed Caitlin who was failing to show up because she had stopped at a random person's table. They would eventually have to go get her.

"Because you're too sweet to be evil."

Belén felt her face warm up at the comment, and so she smiled. "Aw, thank you."

"Guys! Look who I found!" Caitlin exclaimed, making them look over to see her walking with Noah and Linda.

"Hey!" Belén beamed at the sight of her two colleagues, missing the sort of disappointed look on Barry's face. "What are you guys doing here!?"

"Noah owed me a drink," Linda shrugged.

"For what?"

"My team losssst," the man glumly said, although there was something quite off about him.

"He's kinda drunk," Linda mocked a whisper tone as she explained.

"Ah," Belén eyed her indeed drunken co-worker with some amusement. "I think he and Caitlin are about to hit it off then."

"We were about to leave…" Linda grabbed Noah by the arm but the man shook her off and stumbled his way to the counter, howling towards the bartender to give him another round.

"Don't you dare, Stevie," Linda called to the bartender who was halfway down before she told him to go away.

"Guys," Caitlin's face had suddenly turned pale, and she placed a hand on her stomach, "I don't feel so well."

Both her friends could easily see she had finally reached her drinking limit. Barry nodded, half reluctant, towards Belén signifying he would take care of it. "C'mon, Cait," he quickly got up and hurried out the door, speeding away once they were outside before she would end up vomiting.

"Woah, where'd your friends go?" Noah laughed and took Barry's place beside Belén.

"Noah," Belén chuckled, placing an elbow on the counter to rest her cheek on her palm. "I think it's time for you to go home too."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go close the tab," Linda said, moving towards Stevie the bartender.

"I thought you said drinks were on Noah?" Belén glanced back.

"You really think I'm gonna let him pay right now?" Linda shook her head. "I do have honor, Belén."

Chuckling, Belén returned her attention to Noah, squealing when she saw him so close to her face. "Noah! You scared me!"

"I like your eyes, you have pretty eyes," he remarked without a car in the world.

Belén smiled. "And you have a freckle on your nose. We're all discovering new things about our friends tonight apparently," her smile widened as she thought of Barry and his apparent singing talent.

"What color are your eyes, Belén? Are they black?"

"No, they're brown. And sit back down before you fall!"

Noah ignored her and continued asking questions of her facial features. "Your cheeks are pink!"

"Because it's hot here! Now sit down-"

"You have straight teeth too!" Noah poked Belén's cheek which made her laugh.

"I should take a video of you and show it to you tomorrow," she thought out loud. "I'm just scoring videos tonight!"

"Belén, I like your lips too…"

"You're losing it, Noah. For real."

At this time, Barry had returned to the bar, after leaving Caitlin safely in her apartment. He saw Noah sitting in his place and quite close to Belén.

"Do you think...I could…" Noah's other fingers joined her cheek and together lowered nearer her jawline. Before Belén knew it, he had planted his lips over hers for a kiss.

A twinge of actual jealousy surged through Barry as he saw this literally feet away from them. Linda returned from paying the tab at the same time and had gasped in honest surprise when she saw them.

Belén pulled away first, for the first couple of seconds looking confused of what happened. Putting a hand over her mouth, she slid out of her stool. "Oh my God…"

"Glad to see you two are having fun," remarked Linda, arms crossed, as she walked up to them.

"H-he's drunk," Belén was still gathering herself from the moment, one hand in her hair. She met eyes with Barry, and instantly he could see her discomfort- which did put him in a less tensed stance. "Can we go home, please?"

He nodded. "Let's just get the tab closed, okay?"

Grateful, she grabbed her purse, intending on waiting for him at the spot. However, halfway passing by, Noah made an attempt to grab her arm, causing Barry to backtrack and practically yank her to his side.

" _Goodnight_ ," he spat to the drunken journalist, giving a somewhat lighter look at Linda.

"That was something I so did not expect," Belén confided in him after paying the tab and walking out of the bar. "And I...I didn't think gave him signals to - oh my God, he's gonna think I gave him signals. Oh my God!"

"Bells, it's…" but Barry couldn't really find the right words to say at the moment. He was battling an urge to go back in and punch Noah. At the same time, he saw Belén feeling guilty, like this was her fault.

Belén sighed, speaking without receiving an ounce of comforting. "Can you drop me off at home please? I don't want to think about this."

"Of course," Barry nodded, hoping this would blow over by tomorrow.

Swooping in on Belén's porch was quick and easy. But, much like Caitlin had earlier, Belén was a bit rocky on her feet in the first couple of seconds after coming to a stop. Nearly losing her balance, she latched onto Barry's arms and he grabbed her tighter as well. She chuckled in her embarrassment and looked up, intending on apologizing but she realized how close they had gotten and immediately blushed. Barry too had stopped to look down at her, and for the first time _thought_ about her as nowhere near just a "friend". Concrete thoughts about her that made him want to keep holding onto her.

Unlike with Noah, Belén did not feel uncomfortable - she felt quite secure actually. She had repeatedly told herself not to even consider dating anymore for trauma reasons, and...power reasons. Yet right there, during that moment, those thoughts didn't exactly seem right.

Their faces were close, and for a brief moment both considered the idea of getting just a tad closer...to where...they could possibly…

 _You can't!_ Belén remembered. She couldn't think about herself in this. It was Barry, after all, and he deserved someone better. With that mindset, she pulled away, out of Barry's arms, to a safe distance away from him. "I know it was unplanned, and perhaps not the ideal night out...but I had fun. I'll have to thank Caitlin for that tomorrow...if she can remember."

Barry gave a slight nod, unable to will himself to speed away after that moment. Belén moved to unlock the front door, and before going inside, she turned around again, hand on the doorknob.

"You know, if what Caitlin said about you earlier was true...then I don't think you should be afraid of asking that girl out." She smiled, and for a split second Barry could swear that was a sad smile. "I think any girl would love to go out with a…" she paused and titled her head to the side, eyes drifting up in thought, "...a fast-moving, signing scientist."

A smile broke across Barry's face, as well a surge of heat. "One could say the same thing about a fast-talking, passionate journalist who can dance in the air."

Belén chuckled, momentarily looking down to cover her own blush. During that moment she missed Barry nearly making a move towards her. But he stopped himself. He heard Caitlin's words about him all over again. Would he be willing to risk a friendship in the hopes of something even better with Belén? Did he consider it worthwhile? Because after all, this was _Bells_ , his fighting partner, his friend.

"Goodnight, Barry," Belén said softly, waving as she turned the knob of her door and walked inside.

A deep exhale came out from Barry after a minute, his thoughts rearranging again.

Ooh..but this was _Bells_...

A quirky girl who just happened to make him feel things he hadn't quite understood till then.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Belén came into work like nothing, thanking God she had not drank as much as Caitlin because she was sure a migraine would make things even worse. She was suffering, once again, at work because everyone refused to speak to her. Thinking she knew the Flash and was just being snobby by keeping all the details from them, they left her out of nearly every article being written for the week. If this kept up she was now 99.9% sure she would lose her job.

Hell, even Iris was being admitted into the group and she was barely a couple weeks old at the place. But, unlike the others, Iris was far kinder.

"I keep trying to tell them you've got nothing to hide," Iris sighed and crossed her arms, looking disappointed she was failing to help her friend. "But...they're all snobs."

"I learned that on my third day in my internship," Belén in a weak attempt to lighten the mood between them.

"But this is so unfair!"

"Yes, it quite is."

"Belén?" Noah was cautiously coming up to the desk, looking worse for wear. Belén imagined Caitlin looking something like him considering the amount of alcohol they drank last night. "Can we talk?"

Belén gave a small nod and motioned to Iris she'd only be a minute. Moving a safe distance from the desk, she crossed her arms and waited for Noah to begin what she knew must be related to last night.

"I just want to apologize for last night. I...I was _so_ drunk and not right in the head," he clapped his hands together. "I don't want you to think I'm _that_ kind of guy, because...because I'm not. I'm really sorry." He was sure Rayan would kill him if he ever found out what happened last night so Noah hoped to God Belén wouldn't tell her sister about it, or anyone for that matter.

"Now that you got that out of your chest…" Belén started to softly laugh, much to Noah's surprise. "...go get yourself a headache pull because I bet your head is just killing you right now."

"What? You're...you're not mad?" Noah sounded doubtful, and with great reason to.

"I was never mad, because like you said, this wasn't you. I've done my share bad things when I get drunk. Although I will admit to being caught off guard and a bit uncomfortable."

"I'm so sorry about that. Trust me, it will never happen again. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," Belén pointed at him with a kind smile. "I think we work best as a writing team."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Belén gave him a last smile before returning to her desk where she was sure Iris was merely pretending she had not heard anything. The woman fiddled with some papers left behind on the desk.

"How much did you hear?" Belén decided to get straight to the point.

Iris dropped the papers and got to business. "Everything. What happened? Where did you go last night?"

"I was at a bar with Caitlin and Barry and we met up with Linda and Noah."

Iris stayed motionless for a couple seconds while Belén went around the desk to take a seat. "What...what were you, uh...what was the reason-"

"It was a friendly get together, Iris, nothing more," Belén warned before Iris could finish.

Iris began to laugh mirthlessly and whirled around to face her friend. "N-n-n-no, the last time you were out with Barry, you came home with this goofy grin and-"

"Caitlin was there too," Belén reminded sharply.

Iris crossed her arms, now smirking. "Then why are you blushing?"

Belén clapped a hand to her cheek to feel the warmth she didn't realize she was giving off. "Am not."

"So are," Iris rolled her eyes. "You guys are slower than sloths."

"Iris...go away, please," Belén said in a hushed voice, preferring no one heard her. Iris shrugged and walked away, but Belén was sure this wasn't the last she would hear of this.

At the same moment, she heard her phone 'ding' on her desk. She didn't know if it was because of what Iris said, or perhaps of what happened last night, but she felt a jolt of nervousness when she read Barry's name written across. It was a simple text message with a simple question - why was she acting like a such a dork?

 _I'm heading to STAR Labs, do you want a pick up?_

Belén smiled and immediately texted a response back.

 _Yes please! I want to share my video with the others!_

Very soon, she got another text back.

 _...you suck. Be there in a bit._

Belén laughed to herself, acquiring some looks from co-workers passing by. Shyly, she put her phone down on the desk and started gathering her things together.

"Going out?" Noah called upon her, walking by with a file in hand.

"Uh, yes," Belén smiled sadly. "I don't think anybody here really cares if I skip out a couple hours before."

"Hey," Noah put a hand down over hers on the desk, "this will blowover okay? You'll see."

Belén tried to keep his optimism in her heart with a tight smile. "Put in a good word for me, though?"

Noah chuckled. "I will do that as much as I can."

There was a clearing of a throat from a distance. "You ready to go, Bells?" Barry stood there, attempting to hide his dislike as best as possible. He had seen them 'holding hands' from outside and he resisted the idea of speeding in and taking Belén without announcing himself. That was rude...apparently.

"Yes!" Belén exclaimed, then silently questioning herself if that had been too fast of a response. She pulled her hand from underneath Noah's and stood up from her chair, swiping her phone off the desk and dumping it into her bag. "Can you tell Iris I probably won't be back today?" she asked Noah.

"Don't worry," Noah smiled. "See you later," he told both Belén and Barry then walked off with his file.

"Soo…" Barry awkwardly began as they walked out, he letting her out first.

"He apologized," Belén turned to face him, figuring where his thoughts were at the moment. "And I forgave him. He was drunk, and he had no idea what was going on."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Besides, both he and I agreed we didn't exactly want to go further than...friendship you know. We work fine as co-workers."

"Alright, c'mon. It's time to go see what Caitlin did to get up today."

"I suck apparently?" Belén arched an eyebrow before he could move them.

"Uuh…" Barry thought about a good response but came up with nothing. Instead, he sped them off for STAR Labs and hoped she would forget about it all.

Five minutes after they had gotten to the place, the elevator doors dinged open and out stepped Caitlin in thick black sunglasses clutching a water bottle like her life depended on it.

Holding the urge to laugh after glancing with Barry, Belén stepped forwards to greet her. "Hi there Caitlin-"

Caitlin flinched like Belén had just screamed at the top of her lungs. "So loud. Oh, ho-ho."

Barry stepped up beside Belén, and added, "Everything...okay?"

Caitlin sucked in a small breath. "Let's just say I envy your inability to get drunk. I don't remember much from last night."

She walked past them, heading for the cortex. Belén turned and walked beside her, leaving Barry to do the same. "Well, if you ever want to remember I think Bells has something that could help…" Barry sideways glanced at Belén.

Caitlin, confused, did the same and Belén pulled out her phone from her bag. She pulled up the video of Caitlin's and Barry's karaoke session and waved it at them, mimicking for them, " _Summer lovin'_..."

"Oh, God," Caitlin gasped in absolute horror. " _That_ I do remember!"

Belén burst out laughing. She only stopped upon entering the cortex room where Cisco and Dr. Wells were, the latter with arms crossed at the former. It was easy to tell something was off.

"What's wrong?" Barry was the first to break the silence.

"Cisco... Has something he needs to tell you," Dr. Wells sarcastically said.

When all eyes turned on Cisco, he took a breath and declared, "Hartley's gone."

Belén gasped. "He escaped again!? How?"

Cisco shook his head and clarified. "I let him out." He took a moment to see how Caitlin was reacting but he was at a loss. "Are you mad? I can't tell with those glasses on."

Caitlin had remained perfectly still throughout the discussion, and for a good reason. "I'd like to yell and wave my arms, but I'm afraid I'd throw up."

"Why? What were you thinking?" Barry exclaimed, completely lost on this ridiculous idea of Cisco's. "You know how dangerous he is."

"Hartley said he knew what happened to Ronnie-"

"I told you to let it go," cut in Caitlin, removing her glasses. "I didn't want you looking into that for me."

"I wasn't doing it for you. I…" Cisco sighed, deciding to come clean once and for all, "I sealed Ronnie into the accelerator before it blew. He told me to wait two minutes, and I waited, but he didn't come back. And I can't stop thinking, 10, 20 seconds and... Ronnie wouldn't be like he is right now. I've wanted to tell you so many times. I'm so sorry."

Caitlin softened up as she went around desk towards him. "So you carried that around this whole time?" Cisco nodded silently. "Do you know what Ronnie would say if he was here? He would say that you did the right thing. It wasn't your fault. What happened that night wasn't anybody's fault. Come on. Don't we have a teleporter to catch?"

"Do we have progress on that by the way?" Belén asked once they had moved on.

"We do," Wells was happy to announce as he went up to the computers. He pulled up a tab of Shawna's cells that were flickering in and out. "Take a look at this. Now, this is the normal behavior of the particulate that Shawna left behind. Watch what happens when we remove light." The tab was exchanged for one of Shawna's cells in a neon green background that now had each cell motionless. "Shawna can only become entangled with something she can see. Take away her ability to do that…"

Barry realized, "She can't teleport."

"So, we just need to get her into a dark space," Caitlin commented and got to thinking. "How do we do that?"

Barry's phone began to vibrate and so he moved a distance to take the call while the others continued discussing.

"It's a valid question," Wells agreed.

"What...we can wait till night and fight her off in the dark?" Belén made faces as no other better ideas were being given at the moment. "Or...turn the lights off."

It was easy to tell something was completely wrong with Barry after he hung up his call. His face was pale and his eyes widened with distinctable fear.

"What's wrong?" Wells asked him instantly.

"M... My dad. He's been stabbed," he shuddered a breath just thinking about it. He was then ushered by the group to go see his father, but one of them - a tall ombre-blonde predicted an angry flare would soon rise and then something would then occur.

~ 0 ~

By the time Barry got the Iron Heights, Joe was already there with Henry, who was put to immediate rest after his injury. "Dad, what happened?"

"A rather stern reminder, I'd say, not to poke around Marcus Stockheimer's business," Henry was none too pleased that the only job he had, had been terminated so quick and easily.

"Dad, I told you to stop-"

Joe cleared his throat before Barry could finish. "Your dad called me with more intel. It helped us track down Clay and Shawna and arrest Stockheimer."

"I managed to screw up Marcus's big heist, too, so…"

Barry looked between the two men in disbelief. "You two kept working together, and you didn't tell me?"

"It isn't his fault. I did it to help you," Henry said before Barry would have a go at Joe. It didn't, however, ease things between him and his son.

"You getting stabbed and beaten is _not_ helping me!"

Henry sighed, knowing Barry had a right to be upset with him. "Look, I... I... I don't get to feel useful very much in here. So if I can help you for a change, I'm gonna want to be there for you. Just like you've been there for me all these years."

Barry hated that he could, on a level, understand that. It was family, after all, that made people do crazy things sometimes.

"You said Marcus had a big heist coming up? Do you know anything else about it?" asked Joe.

"Dad, tell me who did this to you," Barry very much ordered. The anger inside him was flourishing just at the thought of the culprit thinking he could get away with stabbing his father.

Henry shook his head. "No, it doesn't matter, slugger."

Barry moved over to the side of his father's bed. "But you said you want to help me. So help me."

Henry saw that even though he wouldn't say a word, Barry would go on and find the answer himself. With another sigh, he answered, "One of Marcus's boys. Julius."

~ 0 ~

"I should have I bet on it," Belén sighed earnestly after Barry informed them all of how they would be getting some information on Shawna Baez. He'd gotten ahold of a specific inmate and extracted the needed information to get Shawna's location.

"Was that a joke?" Cisco sent her an odd look as she walked past them all ready in her suit.

"Of course…" but the way in which she assured him left him, well...not so sure.

Barry had stopped Shawna and her boyfriend underneath a tunnel and was having trouble keeping her from teleporting. In the car, Clay impatiently waited for Shawna to finish up fighting the metahuman. When Belén arrived, Shawna had just pushed off a construction worker off a machine. As Barry went to rescue the man, Shawna took opportunity and teleported back into the car with Clay.

"We have to get the lights!" Belén told the other speedster, looking up the light bulbs planted on the ceiling in a straight line. Who knew her idea of turning off the lights would become so relevant. She flinched as the car zoomed past her, but she didn't wait for an exact plan either. Thrusting both her hands upwards, she smashed the nearest light bulbs and swung forwards to continue smashing the next ones.

Seeing her plan, Barry sped forwards and passed Shawna's car to take a turn at the end. In a powerful blast, he smashed the front window and forced the car to an inevitable stop. Belén dropped beside the car and opened the car door to find a lonesome Shawna inside.

"...he left me," Shawna whispered, glancing at the now empty driver seat beside her.

"Men," Belén rolled her eyes, and as sorry as she felt for Shawna, she pulled out Shawna to bring her down to the pipeline.

~ 0 ~

Shawna was placed into a cell in the pipeline, and as much as she tried teleporting out of it she would only reappear mere inches from her spot inside the cell. On the other side, which she could apparently not see, stood the rest of the team except Wells.

"Is there any way she can teleport out of this?" Barry curiously asked Cisco beside him.

"She's not looking at us," Belén commented from Cisco's other side, making a face, "So that's a clue…"

"It's one-way glass," Cisco answered the both of them. "It's mirrored on the inside. No one dangerous is ever gonna get out of this thing again."

Belén patted his arm, glad to see he was feeling a little better from his Hartley experience. "Next time don't let them out in the first place," she whispered with a teasing chuckle and walked away with him.

Meanwhile, Barry was going to have one last word with Shawna, at least to make her realize the reality she was now in. "Shawna. Clay left you. He's out there, and you're in here."

Shawna stopped teleporting, and looked to the side in utter disappointment. "You know what the crazy thing is? I still love him."

"Crazy is right," Caitlin made a face as she closed the pipeline down.

"Some people are worth being crazy for," Barry walked her pace back into the cortex.

Caitlin's smile widened in embarrassment. "Look, I'm sorry if I was a bit - well, a lot - of a drunken mess last night."

"Actually, it was pretty fun," admitted Barry.

"Even the part where Bells gets a video she can now blackmail both of us with?"

Barry reluctantly gave a small nod. "Sort...of…"

Caitlin chuckled. "I'm also sorry for...pushing things a little too hard on you and Belén. I-it wasn't my place."

Barry took in a breath and motioned her not to continue. "Actually, I'm glad you talked to me and that you got us to the bar. It made me think and it made me realize...that maybe getting out there isn't such a bad idea."

Caitlin nodded her head. "If what Cisco says is true, that Ronnie merged with Martin Stein, then he's not alive anymore. Time for me to move on. Find someone new to be crazy about."

"Crazy thing is...I think I found someone I could," Barry smiled to himself. "You think you and Cisco can help me out with a little something?"

Curious of what he had in mind, Caitlin nodded and paid close attention to what Barry was beginning to tell her.

~ 0 ~

"I don't even know why I'm going back there," Belén huffed like a child would, ignoring the laughter from Iris on one side and Linda on her other side while the three walked down the street.

"Because it's your _job_ you worked for years now?" Linda tried to be funny but earned herself a small glare in return.

"I could be sleeping right now!"

"Oh shush!" Iris whacked Belén's arm, rolling her eyes. "And woman up - you are not going to let those co-workers intimidate you out of your own job because they don't believe you."

Belén said nothing more. She was resigned to yet another workday where people would give her dirty looks and scorn at her. All three women stumbled back when a strong force of wind hit them. Two out of the three were familiar with that 'wind', but only one was happy to see the other.

 _What is he planning?_ Belén wondered, admittedly concerned, as she turned the corner into an alleyway with Iris and Linda behind her.

As the Flash, Barry stood at the end of the alleyway, basically enjoying the look on Belén's face due to his presence. "That's for you," he pointed towards a lone file left on top of a dumpster.

"That's the Flash," Linda gaped.

"Why are you here?" Belén could not help the tiny bit of anger in her tone - a concerned anger that Barry recognized. She was probably thinking how idiotic it was for him to expose himself to yet another woman.

"I thought maybe you could help me out if you're willing," Barry shrugged oh-so-innocently it tugged a smile out of Belén. She got what he was trying to do.

"Oh, really?" she crossed her arms.

Iris moved on behind them to pick up the file designated for Belén and skimmed a couple pages. "This is about the breakout at Iron Heights."

Linda snapped out of her stupor to check the file herself. "Belén do you know how big this is right now!?"

"Yeah, I do," Belén released a breath as she reached for the file herself, eyes still on Barry. "It's the story they're not letting me do right now."

"Why are you giving this to her?" Linda then asked him, no upset of his choice but overall curious. All in the meanwhile, none of them saw Iris discreetly pulling out her phone.

"Because she's an underestimated reporter and I want that to stop," Barry met gazes with Belén, the woman already flushing, "The world needs a woman like her putting the stories out there."

Belén had that look that said 'I'm gonna get you for this' with the widest smile ever. With a rather smug smile, Barry sped out of the alleway.

"Oh my God, you _have_ met him!" Linda exclaimed, still awed. Belén turned to her friend with a growing smile, taking Barry's plan with a small laugh.

~ 0 ~

That night, in his lab, Barry heard word of how his plan had gone. He was working on a new case when he heard the familiar squeals nearing his doors.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Belén entered in a run straight towards him. "Oh my Goooood!" she threw his arms around him and hugged him tight as ever. Pleasant with this sort of greeting, Barry hugged back. "I thank my lucky stars every night for meeting you," she whispered, dead serious yet enough to make Barry laugh.

"I take it all is well at work again?"

Belén pulled away slightly to look at him, eyes filled with suspicion yet happiness. "What the hell was that for, Barry Allen? You exposed yourself to Linda Park and you basically confirmed to them that I indeed I knew you."

"And they told the others at work right?" Barry asked.

"Well, clearly!" Belén whacked his arm but ended up laughing. "You should have seen Larkin's face when I put my article together with what you gave me. And then when Linda started telling them how I got the lintel. Suddenly, I'm everyone's favorite now."

"Well, you're _my_ favorite," Barry cheekily smiled, making her laugh.

"And you are my favorite!" she was too happy she needed to give him another hug.

Barry sobered up enough, or rather forced himself to, in order to get enough courage and ask her, as casual as possible of course, a question. When he pulled away, she was still smiling but more flushed now.

"Bells, you think...do you think we could...I don't know, go get a cup of coffee or...something…?" Yes, that had not been exactly how courageously he wanted to ask but at least the question had been put out there, or so he thought.

"Oh yeah, sure!" she exclaimed, misunderstanding the intention of the question. "We could get everyone down at Jitters and-"

"No, no," Barry gestured that he needed another moment. "I meant...um...do you, maybe, want to have coffee, or lunch or...maybe dinner, I don't know...together?" he pointed between them. "Alone."

"Oooh…" Belén's smile faded and her hand gripped the strap of her bag. "...alone…" she looked to the side, so many things popping into her head yet she knew that one thing overrode them all, no matter how many butterflies those other ideas gave her. She couldn't be selfish.

And so, as much as it pained her, she gave her answer in one word.

"No."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I bet you weren't expecting that answer ._. I can totally imagine Barry's reaction too and I feel horrible. But cheers for Caitlin playing Cupid and creating the whole bar scene - God I love those scenes in the show xD


	17. Little Lies

Usually fighting evil metahumans and saving people made Barry feel good about himself - it reminded him that anyone, at one point, could use some help. He was no stranger to needing help himself, but usually it was always over the case of his parents. Very few times it was about anything else, much less about _someone_ else. This time he felt like there was nobody that could help, or perhaps there wasn't even any help that could be of use to him in the dilemma he cursed himself for getting into.

He barely registered an irritated Caitlin striding into the cortex talking in an upset tone to both him and Cisco. "I have been trying to reach Bells all day and she either sends me directly to voicemail or gives me some an excuse that she's really busy at the moment."

"Why do you need her?" Barry quietly asked, thinking that perhaps at the moment it would be best not to see her. He couldn't figure out how to act around her just yet.

"Because Dr. Wells needs her in," Caitlin gently let her phone land on the desk with a light thud. "Cisco finished Nina's suit and he wanted all three of you to practice out in the field to help her."

"And make that snappy," Cisco came in holding a bright red lollipop in hand. "I'm itching to see how well it's going to work." He acquired a dream-like face as he said, "All three of my suits working together...how marvelous."

Caitlin shot him a look. "Did you just say _marvelous_?"

Cisco ignored her and went to take a seat. "I even came up with a name for Nina now! Don't worry, it'll be good," he reassured as if Caitlin and Barry were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the name. Caitlin shook her head at Cisco and moved around the desk to get some of their work cleared up. It was then that Cisco noticed the unusual somber face of Barry. "What's with you?"

Caitlin looked up from the pile of papers in her arms and realized what Cisco was referring to. "Barry, are you fine?"

Barry knew he could easily brush it off and just lie but seeing as they had been in on his plan, it would only be a matter time until they figured it out. _Better to get it over with_ , he thought. "I did what I said I'd do about Belén last night. I asked her out, but...she said no."

Caitlin's and Cisco's faces were stunned. They had been absolutely sure Belén was going to say yes to Barry, they had encouraged him on to ask and now...they hear she said no?

"That...can't be right," Caitlin was the first to speak. She had been more than sure that, with Barry's push, Belén would accept her feelings. She still stood by her stance that Barry and Belén each other's counterparts so Belén would need a confession from Barry that their feelings were not unrequited. Something was way off.

"I understand the word 'No' and trust me, she said no," Barry said, feeling ridiculous for how much this was affecting him. It wasn't like this was the first time a girl had turned him down. Then again, the last time that happened was when he still in college and even that was around freshman year...

Caitlin just couldn't buy it. She shook her head, telling him to repeat exactly what happened in his lab. Barry told them how Belén had come into his lab incredibly happy that her co-workers were giving her another chance. He told them then how he asked her twice, the first time being misinterpreted, but the second time more than clear. Belén had gone silent for a couple of seconds before she uttered a 'no'. With a long sigh, Barry finished with Belén's apology while she backtracked out of his lab.

"Cold," Cisco whispered before popping his lollipop back into his mouth. Barry rolled his eyes.

Caitlin cleared her throat, much more careful with her response. "That...just sounds odd to me, honestly." With the look Barry gave her she quickly explained. "It just sounds, to me, that there's something missing in all this."

"I doubt it," Barry mumbled. "She said no, and it looked like she meant it. I was stupid for even trying this-"

"No!" Caitlin exclaimed. "Something is off, I'm telling you. When Cisco asked-"

Cisco loudly cleared his throat and stopped her from talking. Caitlin realized her mistake and said no more.

Barry straightened up and looked from one to another, waiting to hear an explanation. "What?" he asked.

Cisco pulled his lollipop out of his mouth, "She was talking about the time I asked this, um, girl and she turned me down. But, I asked and asked - very politely and respectfully- until she said yes. Point here is, sometimes a girl is just scared." He hoped that was enough to drive Barry away from further questioning. He did not think Barry learning that he and Belén once went out on a date would help the case.

"That's nice and all, but sometimes a 'no really just means 'no'," Barry shrugged. He was too delved in his own turmoil to see it pick up on anything else.

~ 0 ~

Iris was carrying another pile of papers some to some rude, senior reporters had given to her to take God knew where. She hated them, to be honest. But she was sticking it out because that is what needed to be done. She was going to pass Belén's desk when she noticed how distant her friend looked. Belén held a newspaper in hand and was intently staring at its cover.

"You still mad about me taking that picture?" Iris momentarily set down her pile of papers on Belén's desk, leaning forwards to see the Flash on the cover page. She'd been able to sneak a picture on her phone when he had appeared to Belén, her and Linda.

Belén gently lowered the newspaper and looked up, her eyes tired for some reason. "No," she truthfully said.

Iris tilted her head, now getting a real look at Belén. "Hey...what's wrong?"

"You don't know?" Belén asked, a bit surprised the news had yet to hit Iris considering how close she was with...well…

The answer was easily seen on Iris' face. "Know what?" she raised an eyebrow, suddenly forgetting the task she was supposed to be doing at the moment.

Belén sighed and faced Iris with all the little courage she had. "I'm gonna tell you because I know, either way, you'll end up hearing about it."

"Hear about what?" Iris taped her fingers along the desk, growing impatient with this thing she apparently had yet to hear about.

"Barry sort of asked me out...well, not sort of, he _did_."

Iris gasped excitedly. "Yes!"

"But I said no."

And then Iris' face fell. "Nooooo!" she gestured in a very upset tone. "Why?" she began her questions, repeating her "why" as she moved around the desk. "Why would you say that?"

Belén got up and began pulling the papers Iris no longer cared about. "Look, I don't have to explain, I just...wanted you to know before the story got distorted - not that I think Barry would do that." She stopped moving her hands after mentioning his name, and felt the overwhelming crush of guilt all over again. "If you see him...and he's a little upset-"

"Of course he's gonna be upset!" Iris exclaimed, in a mixture of confusion and irritation. "You turned him down! What, is he not good enough?"

"I never said that," Belén quickly clarified.

Iris took in a deep breath, pushing away those nasty thoughts. Belén was not that kind of woman and she knew it. "He's like my brother-"

"I know," Belén said with the utmost understanding. "And it's okay if you want to defend him."

"I don't get it. I'm sorry. I was sure - I still am - that there was a little something-" Iris dragged her finger in front of Belén, "-between you two. I just... _why_ did you say no? He's a really great guy-"

"I know…"

"I mean, he's really, really sweet-"

Belén smiled. "I know. Overly, if I should add."

Iris nodded. "And he's funny, I mean some of his jokes are nerdy jokes but they're kinda funny-"

A light chuckle escaped Belén's mouth as she agreed. "They are."

"And he's a dork, but he's one of those sweet dorks-"

"Also true," Belén agreed, returning to gathering the papers in a neater pile. "There is nothing wrong with Barry. Actually, between you and me, sometimes I've wondered why he doesn't already have a girlfriend. I mean," she stopped abruptly as she thought out loud. Each of those thoughts widened her smile. "It's quite a sight to see when he gets really passionate about something, something so remote no one in their right mind would ever think about - like-" she laughed, "-something like disproportionate zombies-" she shook her head and tried surpassing her laugh.

Iris mouthed 'disproportionate zombies?' to the side, dead confused about that one but she didn't really want to ask. It was just one more dorky thing between them she supposed.

Belén didn't even notice Iris. She was too busy thinking about the speedster she knew very well she'd love to go on a date with. "He suddenly has all these facts that my little brain would never, ever think about, and he's not even trying to show off he's just...explaining it like...like you just _have_ to know about it. I guess in his mind he's just trying to help. It's amazing… _he's_...amazing," she swallowed hard as she made the realization. Her heart actually ached. That was a new feeling...

Iris intently stared at Belén, the ombre-blonde once again losing herself to her thoughts. Iris became more certain this situation should not be the end of something that hadn't even started yet. "The right person just hasn't shown up, right now she's refusing to go on a simple date with him when it's so obvious she wants to. Bells, help me out here, what's going on?"

Belén turned to face her, politely smiling as she clutched the papers to her chest. "It's not him, alright? This time it's actually me that's the problem. And, I'm sorry, but that's all you're getting from me."

She left Iris with those words and made her way as far as possible before Iris could make any other response. She, least of all people, would be able to understand. For a moment, Belén wished there could be someone just like her.

~ 0 ~

Upon receiving a rather odd call from Joe asking to meet him in a street he certainly didn't know, Cisco left his friends with a lie for an excuse. By the time he got to the location, Joe was already waiting for him.

"Thanks for meeting me," Joe said as soon as Cisco got out of the STAR Labs van. He carried with him a box of tools Joe instructed him to bring along.

"Sure," Cisco looked around as he shut the door. "What exactly are we doing here?"

Joe turned to face a dark blue house across the street. "That's Barry's old house," he told Cisco.

"Where his mother was murdered?"

"I have a theory about who might have been involved in Barry's mother's death," Joe began a very brief explanation as they crossed the road. "I thought you and I could reexamine the crime scene, you could apply your technical expertise and help me prove who really did it."

Cisco nodded. "For sure, we should get Dr. Wells and Caitlin in on this."

"No," Joe quickly said before he got any ideas, "We should keep this between us for the time being. If too many people know, Barry will find out, and I don't want to involve him until we know something definitive." Cisco could see that in a logical way and so agreed. Joe knocked on the front door and waited until a petite, blonde woman in a morning gown answered the door. "Hello, ma'am. I'm Detective West. This is Cisco Ramon."

The woman immediately smiled. "Oh, please, it's Sherry, like the drink," she laughed at her own joke. "What can I do for you, Detective?"

"I don't know if you were aware, but there was a homicide in this residence approximately 15 years ago-"

"Oh, I know."

"We've reopened the investigation. Do you mind if we come in and take another look around?"

Sherry shook her head and stepped aside to let both in. "Oh, not at all."

Joe motioned Cisco to go ahead. "Thank you." He took observation of the familiar interior. "Do you live alone?"

"Yes, I'm divorced," Sherry answered with a widened smile as she closed the door and promptly followed the two inside.

~ 0 ~

"Caitlin, I just saw the news…" Belén had hurried into the cortex, mildly breathless but overall concerned. "It's Ronnie isn't it? He's back…"

She abruptly stopped when she saw Barry near Caitlin and Dr. Wells, and briefly met gazes. He didn't look the least bit angry, and it just made her feel worse because if he wasn't angry then he was upset...and she didn't want him to be upset. Caitlin looked up from a computer with a grim face, confirming Belén's supposition. They had also heard the news of an old professor being attacked by a 'Burning Man'.

Dr. Wells, who sat behind her, had pulled up far too many tabs about the Burning Man to be able to focus on just one. "Yes, and we were just discussing what to do. It appears letting Ronnie roam free is no longer an option."

Belén discreetly went around the other side of the desk, near Wells, and placed down her bag. "But, I mean, this...this isn't actually Ronnie anymore, right? It's more like a…" she tilted her head, "...Professor Stein walking around in Ronnie's body like a vampire." She straightened up then, figuring that comparison was awful. "Scratch that. Please."

"Is there a reason that Stein's brain is in control of Ronnie's body, not the other way around?" Barry asked, directly placing his gaze on Dr. Wells until he was answered.

"Simple Darwinism, I suspect. A brand-new organism will select the strongest parts of itself in order to survive…"

Belén seemed like she was thinking about it until she excitedly cut in, "Survival of the fittest?"

"Exactly," Wells nodded, amused with her.

"In this case, Ronnie's body, Stein's mind. In any event, he badly hurt an innocent man, and we have hunted meta-humans for less. Caitlin, we need to know that you're on board with what needs to be done here."

Caitlin looked at the computer determinedly. "How do we find him?"

"Quentin Quale, the scientist that Ronnie attacked, is a former colleague of Martin Stein. If Martin is indeed in control of Ronnie's body, he may be trying to figure out exactly what's happening to him."

"What do we know about him? I don't even know what Stein looks like," Barry confessed, getting the same looks from Caitlin and Belén.

Wells typed on the computer a moment and pulled up a profile of Martin Stein on the wall computer.

Barry's eyes widened at the sight of the elder man with white hair and glasses."That's Stein? I've seen him before."

Caitlin looked up, curious. "When?"

"On the train, the day the accelerator exploded. I was coming back from Starling and he was on the train. We talked, actually," he smiled, if that really had been Stein then Barry was sure this was not an evil man controlling Ronnie's body.

"How do we even begin to look for Ronnie and Stein?" Belén wondered. "In every case, they've found us."

"We start with the basics," Wells declared, and Belén silently admitted she still did not understand.

It wasn't until he said they should go meet with Martin Stein's wife, Clarissa, who had been searching for her missing husband, did Belén fully understand. The group, save Cisco which for some reason was oddly tricky to contact, headed over to Stein's old home. There they met with Clarissa, who indeed said she was still searching for Stein. They began making small talk with her, while discreetly observing the impeccable neat house.

"Of course I've heard of STAR Labs," she said to Barry, almost chuckling. "Martin was always vocal about the competition."

"STAR Labs is actually helping the CCPD looking into your husband's disappearance, Mrs. Stein," Barry explained.

"Oh, please. Call me Clarissa."

Wells was looking at a table consisting of various glass awards all belonging to Professor Stein. "The Conway Prize for Scientific Advancement," he said, making Clarissa look over.

"Martin was very proud of that one," she smiled.

"I'd always hoped to win one of these myself," Wells shared and looked at them with a sarcastic smile. "Oh, and look at that. He won it three times."

"Takes a special kind of person to make Dr. Wells jealous," Barry told Clarissa, both equally smiling of amusement.

"Well, Martin had a talent for making people jealous. Even me. I sometimes think Martin loved his theorems and experiments more than he did me."

"That's not true, I'm sure," Belén said, she and Caitlin coming from the living room. "My dad and brother were full science guys and…" she chuckled, "...at the end of the day they both needed me. Couldn't get on without me, they used to say. I'm sure that's what Professor Stein thought of you."

Clarissa smiled at the kind words. "Thank you…"

"And you haven't heard from your husband since he disappeared…?" Caitlin wondered, and tried to act like this wasn't important as it truly was.

"No."

Barry reached inside his jacket's pocket, explaining to Clarissa, "Mrs. Stein, could I show you a photograph?" As Clarissa nodded, he pulled out a picture of Ronnie and showed it to her. "Have you seen this person before?"

Clarissa automatically shifted, her eyes widening. "Yes, I have. Who is he?"

Barry hadn't expected the question and faltered. "Um…"

Wells stepped in before he said something wrong. "He's just a person of interest in your husband's case."

Caitlin sighed as she asked. "When did you see him?"

"I started getting the feeling that someone was watching me, and sometimes I still do. And about a month after Martin disappeared, that young man showed up here. He was...saying nonsense, and so I called the cops on him but he bolted. Why?"

There was an awkward silence that could be cut through with a knife. Eventually, she was given a lie for an answer and they left her with that.

"So it appears Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond have something in common besides sharing a body. They both feel the need to protect the women they love," Wells said as they walked away from the house, towards the STAR Labs van. "Clarissa said she feels like she's being watched. Well, then, this has all the makings of a stakeout."

"What? Tonight?" Belén moved slightly ahead to turn and face them. "I can't...I'm sorry. Mark - my old aerial dance team - told me to come in tonight to practice."

"Oh, that's okay," Caitlin tried to be supportive. She knew how much this re-introduction to aerial dance meant to Belén. It was Belén's last way of connecting with her father. Caitlin glanced at Barry beside her, hopeful. "We got things with Barry…?"

Barry nodded. "Of course," he coughed. "You...you go. We'll be fine."

Now she wasn't so sure, and Belén sighed. "No, I'm being selfish. I'll- I'll stay. This...this is important, it's Ronnie-" she gestured to Caitlin, but the brunette shook her head.

"Everything will be fine," Caitlin said, looking down at Dr. Wells for some more support.

"Go on," he motioned.

Belén still looked a little unsure and as she made to leave. Caitlin and Dr. Wells moved towards the van, and for a minute Barry seemed indecisive. Caitlin noticed midway and called to him, gesturing what he was doing.

Rubbing the side of his neck, he glanced in the direction where Belén was walking in.

"Barry?" Caitlin called again, still not understanding.

"Just...you guys go on," he decided, dropping his arm to his side. "I'll see you guys in a bit."

"O-okay," Caitlin nodded and finally made her way away.

Taking a deep breath, Barry started after Belén who was nearing her own car. Originally, she intended on coming with them separately and then leave for the community theater where Azul was waiting to begin their training session.

"Bells?" Wow, even saying her nickname felt odd when they weren't exactly on good speaking terms.

Belén stopped and turned around, clearly surprised she was being spoken to. "Y-yeah?"

Barry had to take another breath before he spoke again. "Uh, see…" he rubbed his neck again, looking as awkward as ever. "About the, um, the uh...incident…"

A light chuckle escaped Belén's mouth. "That's what we're calling it now?" The face on Barry made her laugh a little more. "I would rather we didn't address it that way, because if we did it would make you feel bad and...I don't want you to feel bad-"

"Oh I don't-" Barry had tried cutting in but she waved him to stop and quickly continued.

"Because, because this really has nothing to do with _you_. If it had been anyone else, I would have said the same answer. This is a personal problem, and I don't want you to think that there was something wrong with what you did." Belén swallowed hard, getting more shaky as she went on. "I just...don't see myself dating anymore."

"Because of your past relationship…?" Barry began to assume, and wrongly. But Belén took a chance.

"Yeah...something like that," she nodded. "And...I-I don't really feel that way...about you..." she hated herself, she really did. It was a lie, such a horrible lie but it was probably the ultimate thing that would get him to forget about her. She could tell she'd hurt him and yet he was just nodding, keeping whatever he had to say inside. "I'm so sorry, but...my answer stays the same."

"Okay," Barry cleared his throat. Despite his feelings, he didn't want to push - he didn't want to risk their friendship altogether. He'd taken the gamble and he'd lost; time to accept it. With a brave face, he looked at her. "But about you and I, as...friends, partners…"

Belén's smile widened, and softened. "I don't think I could ever find another singing scientist like you. If you're not mad-"

"No," Barry began to smile, somewhat relaxed she was still open to remaining friends. He just wished he could look and feel as sure as she did right now. She looked as uninterested as ever, which...did, admittedly, kinda hurt. But if this was what it took, then he had to take it. Who knew, perhaps with time this would all blow over and these feelings would just go away.

~ 0 ~

"You made it," Mark gave a mock clap as Belén walked into the training room. She laughed, pushing some silks out of her way as she came forwards. "I was beginning to think once you returned to all this you would back off."

"I'm not doing this for myself anymore, Mark. It's for my Dad now," Belén clarified, letting her duffel bag drop to the floor beside her. "And stop clapping!"

Mark set loose a final laugh before his hands dropped to his sides. "Well first, I wanna congratulate you."

"For what?" Belén asked, momentarily stumped. "Not falling on my ass yet?"

"No, no," Mark hid a smile as he turned to the nearest pair of silks dropping from the ceiling. "I meant for that article you helped write - the one of Clay Parker's escape from Iron Heights."

"...oh," Belén bent down by her duffel bag and unzipped it to reach for a water bottle inside.

"It was really good. I can see why you would leave the team to pursue journalism."

"We both know that's not what happened," Belén looked up at him, now unamused. "My mom made me leave and I was too much of a coward to stand up for myself."

Mark nodded. "But, I mean, all in all, it wasn't as horrible as you thought it would be right?"

"No, I discovered I had a knack for it." Belén rose up as she capped her water bottle again. "Finally a place where my big mouth has a use."

Mark chuckled. "Right-"

"You're not supposed to agree!" Belén quickly said, but only made him laugh again. Shaking her head, she put down her water bottle and walked towards the silks he was preparing for her. "Let's just get to work, okay?"

~ 0 ~

The stakeout had been successful in that after a couple hours, Stein/Ronnie had been sighted landing close to the Stein residence. Barry wasted no time and got into his suit to go confront the man - men?

"Professor Stein," he called, cautiously stepping towards Stein/Ronnie. "Hey, I'm not here to hurt you, and I know you don't want to hurt anyone else, so if you could just not…" his words were interrupted by Stein/Ronnie bursting into flames, "...flame on."

Barry quickly dodged thrusts of flames coming his way, and sped up to Stein/Ronnie. He slammed the metahuman against a wall, but Stein/Ronnie grabbed him by the arms and suddenly flew up into the sky. As they crossed through the sky, going higher by the second, Caitlin drove after them. When he felt it was an appropriate time, Stein/Ronnie promptly let go of Barry who fell down without anyway to survive. A couple feet before the ground, Stein/Ronnie came flying down only to grab Barry again and drop him over the van Caitlin had been driving after them. Caitlin screamed when Barry crashed the front window and was forced to stop in a swerve. Barry rolled into the ground and barely rose his head to see Stein/Ronnie coming his way ready to cover him in flames for real.

Caitlin came running out of the car, really not having a clue how she was supposed to be helping, but nonetheless she felt she needed to be out there. "No!" Her single word of help made Stein/Ronnie stop in his tracks. Seconds later, he burst into flames and flew away.

Barry groaned as Caitlin helped him sit up right. "Well, that was terrifying."

~ 0 ~

Belén left the pair of silks for a moment to go get another drink of water. Seeing she was nearly out of water, she made to go for the water fountain in the hallway. Mark had gone out already, and promising him that she wouldn't go beyond what he taught her earlier he left her alone to continue training. She filled up her water bottle up to the top and started back for the room.

"I didn't know you danced," a familiar voice stopped her.

She flared and glanced over her shoulder. "And here I thought I would at least get rid of _you_ in all this," she spat.

"Ouch," Azul feigned offense with a hand over his chest. Belén rolled his eyes and continued walking away. "Hey, wait," Azul called for her, but she didn't stop, "don't you want to know what I want?"

"Not in the least."

"Wow, so I guess you're really on a mission to push away your family."

Belén stopped, now offended herself. She didn't want to look at him, to start a full argument when she was already more miserable than possible. "You don't know anything about me except for what my brother has told you. And he still thinks that I'm the same as I used to before he left - the stupid one."

"He didn't leave, he was kidnapped-"

"Yes but in the end, when I'm sure he did something awful, he had the chance to come home and he didn't. Whatever you have to say, keep it to yourself. I'm not interested."

Azul was frowning, frustrated his words were making no impact on her. "This is your brother-" Belén slowly came to a stop, biting her tongue to not say anything. Of course that didn't stop Azul from saying what he wanted. "You've chosen some strangers over him! Your family! And you turned your back on him-"

That was the last straw. Belén whirled around, revealing teary eyes. "No, he turned his back on _me_ first!" The sudden shout made Azul stop for a moment, allowing her a perfect opportunity to continue. "Where was he when my sister lost her husband? Where was he when I had to leave town to get a better control of my powers? Where was he when our father was _murdered_? When I could barely hold myself together, where was _he_? I _needed_ him and he. Wasn't. There."

For the first time, Azul could understand her pain. How it felt being practically alone, losing parents and other family. "I don't...I don't think he realized how much you've needed-"

"Of course he hasn't," snapped Belén, determined to get it all out once and for all, "Because he's been hiding. Lately, my friends have acted more like a family to me than my supposed brother and my sister. And you know, I can let my sister slide because she has her own problems with her kid, but Rayan? That's not my brother anymore."

"How can you say that? I know you feel like things have-"

"I don't 'feel' I saw it," Belén corrected. "The brother that I knew would have never given me such an awful, selfish ultimatum."

"He made a mistake-"

"I get the feeling he was very serious in that he would rather let someone die as long as it didn't directly affect _him_. And now he's a coward who can't even face me. He has to send his messengers to talk to me. That man is not my brother from before." Belén paused to take in a deep breath and recollect herself for her final words. "I can see that my brother will never be the same, and that the chances of him meeting me face to face are very slim, so I'm going to use you to send back another message. Tell him that I am done looking for him. I'm throwing everything out and moving on. But if I find out that he is up to something bad...then…" It became a struggle to finish her words but she needed to say them, to give Rayan a warning and hopefully ward him off the wrong path, "...I will do everything in my power...to lock him up like the other metahumans the Flash and I have imprisoned."

Now this severely shocked Azul. Through his mask Belén could see wide eyes blinking at her, slowly turning into accusing anger. "You would lock up your own brother?"

"If he became a threat to innocent people, yes."

Azul straightened up, his anger far more clear than earlier. "Then...I guess there is nothing left to say."

"Except the warning extends to you, Plasticine and Pixel as well," Belén stopped him from turning away. She had regained herself, added on a layer of boldness; her teary eyes were no more. "I truly hope that I am wrong but if I'm not, then you better hope I don't find out."

Azul scoffed coldly; the lines of division were really appearing now. " _You_? Aren't you always getting kidnapped and needing saving?"

Belén's anger flourished in _that_ side of her powers, and before she knew it her right hand thrust forwards and slammed Azul on the ground like he was nothing. "I am much _more_ than what you give me credit for." Her hand was growing green blotches over her skin and so she quickly lowered it down. She took a breath to calm down, hoping _that_ side would leave her alone. It felt a creepy darkness that warned an indefinite stay if she didn't learn how to control it. "And you shouldn't talk so high, after all you _are_ the messenger boy." Vines crept over Azul's body, threatening to crush down on him and probably end his oxygen supply. Azul balled his fists to form icicles that he then threatened to shoot her with. "Go ahead," she taunted, raising her head, "Hurt me. Or...is that against my brother's rules?"

Her suspicions were confirmed as Azul slowly lowered his hands, the icicles melting into nothing. "What's on your face?" he pushed himself up, though kept a careful watch on the vines still over him.

Belén gasped and slapped a hand to her face. " _Go_ ," she ordered through gritted teeth, but Azul would never know if it had been for him or for those patches of green on her face. Either way, he ran.

Belén thanked to God there were no cameras in the hallway, because once Azul was gone she made her own escape before anyone could see her.

~ 0 ~

With the help of everyone in the team, and Clarissa Stein, Ronnie and Stein - merged as one - had been taken to STAR Labs. Dr. Wells had given the men medication that would, hopefully, allow for a better civilized conversation with Professor Stein who was in control at the moment.

"I don't suppose any of you have thought what to do after you got Professor Stein to come back?" Belén looked from Caitlin to Barry while Dr. Wells worked on one of the computers. Stein had been given a change of clothes in the meantime.

"More or less," Barry did a weak gesture with a hand, proving her point.

"Well, Stein clearly thinks he can separate himself from Ronnie's body using nuclear fission," shared Dr. Wells, raising his eyes from the screen before him.

Caitlin gave him a sharp look. "What do you think?"

"What do I think? Is it possible? Theoretically. But splitting an atom and splitting a man are two very different things."

"Oh!" they heard Belén gasp and looked over to see her gazing at Ronnie who was coming out of a side room. He had cut his hair and, overall, looked far more put together.

However, there was something off about the young man looking about, so rigid and proper, even his voice had an older tinge in it, clearly from Stein. "I don't suppose it's necessary to point out you're all staring?"

While everyone shamefully looked away, Belén slowly raised her hand. "I think I made it overly obvious...and for that I'm sorry." She lowered her hand and began to smile. "My name's Belén Palayta, I don't suppose you know me yet, but don't worry cos I don't know you either-" she covered her mouth once she realized how rude that could've sounded. "I mean…" she looked for better words while flapping a hand to gesture, "...what I meant is, I've heard so much about you - the _both_ of you! You know, the older one and the younger one-"

"Young lady you speak remarkably quick, has anyone told you that?" Clearly Professor Stein, he asked.

Belén shyly smiled, and nodded her head. "I'm a journalist…"

"Well you keep that job." Stein gave a nod before taking a quick examination of the room. "It is remarkable. I feel clearer than I have since the accident. What did you give me?" he asked Wells.

"A cocktail of anti-psychotics, depressants, and mood stabilizers."

Stein raised eyebrows. "The same formula used to treat dissociative identity disorders." He glanced at Caitlin. "I assume this was your idea? Very clever, Cait."

Caitlin, shaken, shook her head. "Don't call me that. Please."

"I apologize."

Caitlin took a small steps towards him. "We'd like to run some tests on you, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Dr. Snow." Stein gestured Caitlin to lead the way, and while she was mortified to be near him and technically not be near her fiancee, she walked ahead.

Belén watched poor Caitlin walk away with the saddest of expressions. "Poor Cait." She glanced at Wells curiously. "Is there an actual way to separate Professor Stein and Ronnie?"

"We have to let Caitlin run the tests we need," Dr. Wells said. "That could take a couple of hours."

"Oh, well, I guess I have time for a quick run back home," Belén released a breath and made way for the desk where she left her purse. "By the way, someone might want to check up on Cisco."

"Why?" Barry questioned.

"He's up to something," Belén slung her purse strap over her shoulder. "And very secretly. He kicked me out of his workroom. He never does that."

"Can I walk you out?" Barry then thought to ask. He could see her genuinely having to think about it. It...did pain him a little. In the end, she gave a little smile of encouragement.

"I was very serious about Cisco, you know," she said once they were out in the hallway.

"Yeah…" Barry said, half dragging it out because he was very uninterested.

Belén stopped by the elevator and faces him, sensing his lack of attention. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." _Of course I have to say that_ , he thought. "Do you want a lift home?"

Although she answered quicker than the last time, Barry still witnessed her thinking about it. Time was she used to say a quick 'Yes' and they would be on their way.

"I think I'll just take the car," she answered very politely and pressed the button of the elevator. "It's not easy explaining to Maritza why I take the car and come back without it."

"She hasn't found work yet?" Barry opted for a chance of subject seeing things were failing again.

"Um, she said she was going to the local elementary school a couple streets from us but I've yet to hear how it went."

"And she teaches…?"

"Kindergarten - she's a kindergarten teacher. But she's been having a difficult time trying to find a job. Hopefully this one works out fine." The elevator dinged open and with a sheepish smile to Barry, she stepped inside. "I'll see you later, then?"

With nothing to say, Barry nodded and watched the doors slide closed. Almost immediately, he heard his phone ringing from his pocket. The moment he answered Iris West said very loud and clearly: "We need to talk _now_."

Deciding it was better to see her now than later to avoid bigger problems, Barry agreed to meet her at Jitters where she would be working on a couple articles anyways. She sat alone on a table with her laptop opened and a journal beside it. She was drinking from a mug when she saw Barry coming in.

"Barry! Over here!" she waved a hand to grab his attention. She looked pretty calm and content, giving Barry a false illusion this would just be another casual talk with her.

"What's up, Iris?" he took a seat across the table. Iris smiled widely for a second more before abruptly leaning over to smack him on the arm. "OW!"

Iris was no longer smiling at him. "Please tell me you've fixed this mess with Bells."

Barry rolled his eyes, this time blaming himself for not seeing this coming sooner. "You know, I had actual things to _do_ -"

"Don't change the topic with me, Barry Allen. What are you doing?"

"Nothing...what am I-"

"You're damn right you're doing _nothing_ ," snapped Iris, who, with all her irritation coming out, remained at first glance calm and collected. " _Why_ are you doing nothing?"

Barry sighed. "Look, Iris, I already had this talk with Caitlin and Cisco but-"

"You're not gonna have the same conversation with me, I _promise_." Iris closed her laptop down and placed her hands over it. "I just...don't understand you, honestly."

"Understand what?" Barry asked.

"You, I don't understand _you_ ," Iris clarified. "You never give up. I mean, isn't that why you became a CSI? Because no one else believed your story about the man in the yellow suit?"

"This...this is a different thing…" Barry said, shifting on his chair. "It's not about believing or not. Belén said _no_ and I don't intend on hassling her."

"But that's just it! You're not doing anything -" Iris abruptly stopped and thought of a different manner to get him to understand. "Okay," she began anew, "Do you remember that girl you used to have a crush on in high school? Senior year? What was her name?" she looked to the side and tried recalling the name. Kara? No. Kiara? No that wasn't it either…"

Glum with the reminder of the girl, Barry said in, "Clara."

Iris snapped her fingers. "Clara! There you go! Clara Connors, head cheerleader and President of the debate club." She pretended to shiver. "What a bitch."

"Hey," frowned Barry.

"What? She was! I hated her!" Iris shook her head. "Anyways, my point here is, you pined after her for the entire school year but you never did anything to ask her out."

"She was way out of my league!" Barry argued.

"There is no such thing as 'leagues' Barry, we just create them," Iris said with a light smile.

"Deep."

"I've been reading."

"That's nice…"

"What I'm trying to say is that you didn't try to go after Clara and now you're doing it again with Belén. You're brave and you're a fighter, what's going on now?"

"Iris," Barry thought himself a broken record as he said, "She said no. She said she wasn't interested, alright? Now it's hard enough to hear it the first time...please don't make me hear it a second time."

Iris stared at him, appearing to be thinking. _That girl **so** lied to him, _she thought. Well, Iris thought she would just have to set the record straight. "You know, Barry," she started innocently, "Sometimes I wonder why you don't already have a girlfriend. I mean, it's quite a sight to see when you gets really passionate about something so remote that no one in their right mind would ever think about like disproportionate zombies-" Barry was beginning to look at her oddly. "You know all these facts that no one would ever think about and you don't trying to show off. You just try to explain things because we _have_ to know about it. You're just trying to help. You're _amazing_."

Barry stared at her in alarm, his eyes widened. "Iris…"

Iris innocently smiled, swaying her head. "Sounds like I'm into you huh?" Barry nodded, still looking afraid. "Well, rest assure I am not. Those weren't my words. They were _Belén's_."

His heart did a sort of jolt. His whole body leaned forwards on the table. "Really…?"

Iris nodded, watching as her plan finally begin to work. "Mhm. She told me every word I just said. Kinda ironic considering she was trying to tell me how she _wasn't_ interested in you. But you could tell in her eyes it was such a lie."

"Then why would she...I don't..." Barry rubbed his temples, "Why are women so difficult?" Iris playfully hit him on the arm again. "It was a legitimate question!"

Iris shook her head at him then pointed directly at him. "Don't give up because I know she likes you, I knew it from the start-"

"No, you really didn't-"

"Yes, I did, now go and get that date!"

Barry couldn't help but smiling at her. "If I get turned down again-"

"You won't," she said with the utmost certainty, hands together over the table like she was giving the news of the day. "And when you come back home, you can tell me all about how I was right."

"Thanks Iris," Barry said genuinely before rushing off to go find Belén.

~ 0 ~

"Yes, Maritza, I'll stay home, I promise," Belén grumbled as she agreed to her sister's terms. She was this close to hanging up but she knew better than that. Maritza would have her head! As Belén made way for her front porch, Axel stayed behind in the front yard, waving his Toy Story Woody doll in the air. He had more series of Toy Story toys all around him.

Maritza had roped in Belén for a last minute babysitting gig. It appeared she was on a sudden trial for the elementary school and had no one to look after Axel because his babysitter had other commitments.

"Axel, don't throw your Woody!" Belén called as she sat down on the porch steps. As soon as she did, a strong wind hit her in the face. "Barry, what are you doing here? Is something wrong with Professor Stein and Ronnie?"

"No - well, yes, but we already know that. No, um…" Barry failed to come up with a straight sentence on the first try. He took a breath and began again. "I need to have a word with you."

"I can't, I have Axel," Belén pointed back to the young boy now sat on the grass. "Maritza is on a trial at school and I have to look after him."

"On the porch is fine, anywhere."

"O-okay," Belén nodded, sensing this was going to be important. "What's going on?"

"That's what I want to know, honestly," Barry said, receiving a confused look from her. "You said things like you weren't interested in me but now I'm hearing the opposite from Iris-"

"Excuse me? You're not taking my word here," Belén frowned, although it was hard to be upset when she was being called out on her own lies. "That's frankly disrespectful, Barry."

"You lied, Bells, and that's not fair." Barry thought that was a rather childish move but he was not going to desist.

"You can't take Iris' word, you know how she is!" Belén exclaimed, believing her face to be redning.

"Iris does not lie, especially about something so important to me," Barry nearly snapped and Belén paused at the explanation. "Because this _is_ important to me, Bells, can't you see? _You_ are important."

Belén felt awful as she saw the truth in his desperation. "Barry, I'm so sorry," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I thought...I thought we were done with this-"

"I can't," Barry shook his head. "Not after what Iris told me."

"And what exactly did she say?"

"The things you said about me, the things you liked about me," Barry moved closer to her till they were nearly face-to-face. "Did you really mean those things?"

Belén's mouth opened and closed several times, wanting to continue to lie in hopes of driving him away like the first time. It was better - it was the best for _him_. But, maybe she was selfish because...she really wanted to tell him the truth, tell him how he made her feel...

"Did you mean those things, Belén?" Barry asked again, louder. "Please?"

"Yes," she whispered. "You are amazing, Barry, and that is why I can't do this to you."

"Can't do what? What are you talking about!?"

"It's my problem, not yours. Just...just go and find someone else, okay? It shouldn't be that hard considering who you are. You and I are better as friends."

"I politely disagree," Barry said firmly. He stepped back, looking as if he were accepting some sort of challenge. "And I'm not leaving until I have a date with you. If I have to get every neighbor on this block to help me persuade you, I'll do it.

Arching one eyebrow up, Belén crossed her arms. "What do you mean?"

"You've lived here nearly for years, someone's got to be able to help me." Barry put his hands behind his back as he began rocking back and forth on his shoes. "I guess I'll just have to knock."

"You wouldn't," Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

"Are you doubting my boldness right now? I'll start shouting."

"No you won't. Because this is ridiculous and you've got better things to do."

"I'm giving you my full attention, and I'm not giving up when I know you are just as interested in me as I am with you."

"Barry, you're not gonna do anything except go back to S.T.A.R Labs and-"

"SCUSE ME!" Barry had turned around and sped into the sidewalk where he promptly began to shout at passersby. "Someone's gotta help me around here, I beg you!'

"Barry, get back here!" she ran up to the sidewalk, unable to leave Axel on his own. She was bright red in the face as Barry continued to speak high and loud. _He is actually doing this_ , she didn't know whether or not to be embarrassed or...feel just a tad special...

No one had really gone this far just to get her to go on a date.

Right across the street a blonde haired elderly woman stepped out of her home to see he commotion. It was Mrs. Andrews, Belén's closest neighbor. She spotted the omber-blonde across the street. "Belén? What's happening? Is everything fine?" she called.

"Everything's fine Mrs. Andrews-" Belén had begun to say when Barry cut in.

"No it's not!" he shook his head. "I'm in a bit of a struggle, you see, Mrs. Andrews?" the woman nodded her head. "See, I'm trying desperately to get a date with Belén here but she keeps turning me down even when she knows she wants to say 'Yes'. And I have witnesses too don't think I'm trying to force her."

"Barry, cut this out!" Belén practically pleased but he was having nothing of it.

"I don't understand and frankly I'm going a little crazy-"

"Barry, come back here!"

He was crossing the street towards Mrs. Andrews who was keenly listening. "Because I really, really like her. I didn't quite know it but thankfully I came to my senses. She's sweet and she's passionate about what she likes. She doesn't understand much science-" Barry smiled to himself, lightly chuckling, "-but she's incredibly cute when she tries to make sense out of it. And, really, if she just paid more attention she would get it because she's incredibly smart. Did I mention I like her fast talking?"

"That was the first thing you ever complimented me on..." Belén said quietly from her spot. Her face had softened, yet was still flushed, but she couldn't find it in her to continue being so 'upset'.

Barry turned around and nodded at her, recalling the first thought he ever had after meeting her the night the Particle Accelerator was to go off. He thanked God Iris had put him up to the task of helping with some article Belén had to write despite not knowing her. And even if he hadn't actually helped her in the end, it led to their friendship.

Belén took in a breath and started walking up to him. "Barry Allen, why do you have to make it so hard for me to say 'no'?" Standing in front of him, Barry could only respond with a shrug of genuine confusion.

"Wait a minute," Mrs. Andrews suddenly called out to them, making them both glance her way. She was coming out to her front porch, eyes keen on Barry. "What was your name, young man?"

Belén whispered to Barry as they moved to face Mrs. Andrews, "But just because I kinda like you too does not mean I won't kill you for this."

At which point, Barry felt completely calm because all he had heard was that she liked him too. "It's Barry, ma'am," he finally answered the waiting elder woman. "And I'm sorry for causing commotion. I was desperate."

It didn't appear Mrs. Andrews listened to his additional response. She was smiling, for some reason. "David spoke about you. He mentioned your Christmas present idea. I thought it was lovely."

"Thank you," Barry cleared his throat. "I, uh...that was my goal."

"Thank you, Mrs. Andrews. We won't be making more noise I promise," Belén grabbed Barry's arm and forced him to turn back for her house.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Barry's voice was quiet but he still stood by what he'd done and what he said.

Belén let go of his arm once they were back in her yard. Her eyes briefly flickered to Axel who had played in the yard this whole time like nothing had happened. She re-directed her eyes back to Barry, and when they met gazes she just couldn't do it anymore. "I _have_ thought about you as more than a friend. Of course I have."

"So then why did you lie?"

"Because...because I'm not the girl you want to date, trust me," she sighed. "Everything I told Iris was true. You're incredible, and I...I don't think I could take it if I said 'yes' to that date only for you to cancel it later."

"I wouldn't do that," Barry's reassurance didn't exactly make a difference for her. "Bells, why would you think that?"

Belén had realized there was nothing but to show him what was the problem was. "Come tonight to my room, like you do sometimes, and then I can show you what the problem is. Because maybe after that, you won't want that date anymore."

"I don't...understand…"

"Just come, okay?"

Barry gave in with a nod, figuring he had nothing left to lose. "Okay."

"Thank you. Now I can't really leave Axel and I promised Maritza I wouldn't take him out," Belén sighed but added in a quieter tone, "Plus I don't feel comfortable nearing him to a man who radically bursts into flames."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." Barry said quick, debating how to leave after everything. He was just now realizing how stupid he'd been shouting about just to get his 'yes'. Yup, she was definitely doing something to him because he never imagined he would've done something like this in a million years.

Belén rocked back and forth on her feet, biting her lower lip as she too waited for someone to speak and cut through the awkwardness. Thankfully, someone's phone went off.

"Mine," Barry waved it as he got it out of his pocket. "It's Caitlin…"

"You should go then," Belén said. "I'll...be here…" she awkwardly pointed back to her house, "...waiting…"

"I'm not changing my mind," Barry warned before he left.

"I think you should save your words until after."

"I won't," Barry smiled, cheerful as ever before speeding away.

Belén couldn't feel that assured as she turned to walk back to her house. The pit in her stomach had her worrying for the rest of the afternoon until Barry would return. After all, only Felicity Smoak knew her secret and that alone was terrifying to reveal to a stranger. How would she do it with Barry? Someone she came to be so close to, someone she kind of, may have, learned to really like?

Even when Maritza finally returned, and announced she had made such a good impression that she was offered a job at the elementary school, she noticed straight off something was bothering Belén. After putting Axel to sleep, Maritza came down the staircase, to where Belén was busy writing on her laptop.

"If you keep up the speed you'll break that poor computer," she decided to open with a joke. Apparently, it was not funny.

Belén shook her head and shut her lap top. "I'm going to bed early," she declared, rising from the couch with her laptop tucked under her arm.

"I was only joking, Belén, calm down," Maritza walked around the couch and plopped down. "Sit down and we can talk if you need to."

"No offense but I just don't think you could actually help," Belén sighed, looking absolutely stressed.

"Ouch," Maritza laughed. "I guess I need to be more like your scientist friends huh?"

"It's not that…" Belén bit her lip and reconsidered on a way to talk to her sister without actually revealing anything.

"C'mon Belén, I know we don't have the strongest sister relationship but I actually want to change that," Maritza smiled kindly, changing her sitting position to face her. "What's bothering you?"

Belén could only think of one way to put it that wouldn't make it seem out of the ordinary. "It's this guy, and, um...he asked me out-"

"Ooh," Maritza made a face, "Tell me more!"

"At first I said 'No'-"

"Because you didn't like him?"

"No, because...because I didn't think he would want to date someone like me."

Maritza made a face. "Why wouldn't anyone want to date you? You're fantastic! You're-" she stopped when she remembered that Belén was a metahuman and that perhaps this guy didn't yet know it and this was the reason for Belén's answer.

"I was sure that he would move on, but he didn't," Belén sighed. "And, it sucks, because I actually do like him but I'm scared of what he's gonna think of me when...when he gets to know me."

Maritza assumed Belén would be revealing she was a metahuman. A little alarmed, she discreetly said, "Maybe you should wait a little until you let him see the real you."

"How so?" Belén tilted her head.

"Well, you say you like this guy but you've never dated him? Like, nothing at all"

"Right..."

"Who's to say that after a date you won't like him anymore? Maybe you'll realize that...there's nothing there."

Belén shrugged, genuinely considering Maritza's words as she started for the stairs. Could it be that after one date she would realize she didn't really like Barry?

"Where are you going?" called Maritza.

Stopping by the stairs, Belén glanced back. "Sleep…" she said quietly, "night," she added then hurried up the stairs.

Maritza watched after Belén with mild concern. It was much more difficult than she thought it would be to get Belén to be open and talk to her. At the very least Maritza thought Belén would have the audacity to share with her the fact she was a metahuman. But, it appeared, Belén preferred to keep that secret among her friends. Once again, she chose strangers over her family.

~ 0 ~

The light tap on the balcony door made Belén flinch on her bed. She rushed to go lock her bedroom door - right after peering outside the hallway to see if her sister had gone to sleep as well - and then ran to go open the the blinds. She unlocked the glass door and slide it open.

"Hi, Barry," she said sheepishly and allowed him inside. "How'd it go with Cait and…?"

"Professor Stein and Ronnie are both going to be fine," Barry turned around, wearing a light smile on his face. "We were able to separate them using a quantum splicer-"

"You lost me," Belén shrugged innocently, shaking her head.

Barry chuckled and made her blush. "So, you want to tell me why I'm here?"

Belén drew the blinds across the glass doors of her balcony then turned to face him. "This has a point, Barry, I promise. But please, no matter what happens, you have to promise me you won't tell _anyone_ about this."

"What is it?" Barry asked, beginning to feel a little concerned. She seemed so serious about this, like it was life threatening...

Belén shut her eyes, gathering every ounce of courage inside her to speak. "Do you remember before when, um...when you woke up from your coma and...everything was so new? Like, like you couldn't control your powers basically?"

"Yes, but then I got help from STAR Labs - something you could've done too if you would've told us," Barry reminded gently, not wanting to dig up that past argument.

"I couldn't at that time because I didn't know you guys completely. But there was one person I did get help from, remember?"

"Oliver," Barry said, not too pleased.

"And Felicity Smoak - she was the first person to know," Belén sucked in a breath. "I had to prove to her that I needed help, and at that time I only knew how to do one thing."

"Which was…?"

Belén sighed and walked past him, double checking to see if her bedroom door was actually locked.

"Bells? What is it?" Barry turned after her, seeing her become more and more scared.

"You can't tell anyone!" pointed Belén, suddenly frantic. "You can't!"

"I won't, I promise!" Barry raised both his hands to solemnly swear.

Belén shook her head. She took in a breath and raised her head. At first, Barry couldn't tell what exactly he was supposed to be looking at...until he saw something green spreading from down her hands...wrists...arms…

It was incredible sight to see someone change skin colors, and even more-so when the skin was changed into a beautiful shade of emerald green. There appeared to be a light scaly pattern, but it was an astounding sight.

"I turn into this-" Belén raised her arms, "-and it's awful. It's ugly."

"This isn't...this isn't _bad_ ," Barry breathed in, really unable to configure words to express his shock. "This is...extraordinary! You're truly one-of-a-kind. Do you realize this means you could have other powers you're not fully aware of!?"

"Don't sell me that crap, Barry. This is _ugly_ , and it's why I never use it. I push it away," Belén lowered her arms but remained in her greenish state. "I only showed it once to Felicity and then once to Oliver to prove my story. I don't like, it's ugly and no one should ever have to see it." She didn't feel completely ready to disclose how the power even came involuntarily to her. She figured Barry wouldn't even question it after making him re-think that whole 'date' thing.

"Belén this is crazy. You can't actually think this would bother me enough to call off our date," Barry chuckled, but Belén didn't find it funny.

"You laugh now but you have to think about it like I am. Right now, yeah it's just a date and it might not mean nothing but what happens if this actually works out between us, hmm?" Belén arched an eyebrow. "What if everything goes so fine but then in the future...you would want kids...do you really want that mother to pass on to them these horrible genes?"

"Bells-"

"Think about it please," she begged. "Because I would rather call things off right now before anymore feelings develop. You are wonderful, Barry, and you deserve someone wonderful. Don't blow it."

Barry nodded, acknowledging her words. He saw this was important to her, and for that he wouldn't dismiss it so easily like before. But, he knew what he wanted even after hearing everything, so he supposed he would just have to show it little by little. "So, Miss Bells - I like that actually," he said to himself but saw Belén smiling from the corner of his eyes, "Are you free this Saturday night?"

Belén's eyebrows rose, and slowly her skin lost the scales and emerald green tinge. A little smile again graced her lips. "...I don't like Chinese food."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I loved writing this chapter like you wouldn't believe it *gushes*. Buuuut now at least we got these two dorks out on a date ;)

P.S I was listening to "Something Just Like This" by the Chainsmokers & Coldplay and I thought...this could be Belén's & Barry's theme ._. It's cute, it's ironic, and...yeah, I like it xD And even for Belén herself, I feel like her theme could be Andra Day's 'Rise Up'.

Give those two a listen and see what you think (and let me know what you think!)

 **For the Reviews:**

 **Peaches** : It's okay, it's okay, it's happening now! :D

 **GraceEllingson** : Girl shot him dowwwwwn, but it's okay...they're gonna have their cute little date ;)


	18. Fallout

The night was young and Central City was busy as ever. _Everyone_. In a local liquor store there was a young man aiming a gun at a poor girl behind a cash register.

"Give me the money and maybe you get to live!" the man ordered the sobbing girl who scrambled to get the money out of the register.

There was a strong force of wind that knocked open the door of the liquor store...and shattered one side of the glass display.

"Sorry about that!" A woman in a white and black one-suit quickly exclaimed. Her black heeled boots clinked against the floor as she walked up, her white cape doing a small 'whoosh' noise at the same time. "Please, ignore the cape - it wasn't my idea."

"Hey I thought it was a _great_ idea!" Cisco was quick to defend himself over the comms. "The Incredibles didn't make sense on that matter, honestly."

Behind Nina Clarke's black mask, she rolled her eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" the thief in the store demanded.

"The Tempest," Nina still couldn't get over the name Cisco branded her with, but it kind of had a killer vibe to it. She thrust a hand forwards and with her great wind knocked the thief - along with the cashier girl - down.

"You weren't supposed to knock the girl down, Nina," came Cisco's light scold.

"Sorry!" Nina flew over the counter and picked up the girl. "But you're alright," she assured the blonde.

"Get the thief, Nina!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Oh, got it!" Nina smiled at the girl and rushed to collect the thief on the floor.

After dropping the thief at the CCPD, Nina continued to be on the look out for more attention-needng situations. Peace lasted for about five minutes before Cisco warned her there was an ongoing speed chase across from her location. With a great big sigh, she soared up into the sky and made to follow. With her extraordinary wind power, she was able to force the criminals' car to stop on a swerve. She was just handing over the criminals to the policemen when Cisco announced there was a suicidal situation not too far from her point.

"You're killing me!" Nina complained but once again stormed up into the sky. "I thought I was supposed to practice in the _training_ area. I just think you're keeping me out there so you have something to do back at STAR. Labs."

Cisco took that with mild offense as he bit off a red liquorish. "Not true," he said calmly. He was alone in the lab but couldn't be more comfortable. Caitlin was having her own dinner with her new, not-dead fiance and probably catching up. Professor Stein had been taken home yesterday and so far, everything was well. No one questioned the explosion that happened two days ago on account of the army declaring it a 'nuclear test'. Although that only meant they would soon be coming to them to really investigate.

Nina rolled her eyes and without giving the jumper on a building's roof a warning she swooped down and grabbed him by the arms. She lowered him down until they were close to Eddie who had been in charge of the scene. "Please don't let him back up there," she told him.

"Who are you?" Eddie took possition of the jumper, eyeing Nina nonetheless.

"The Tempest. I'm just here to help," Nina smiled.

"Where's the Flash?"

"...busy."

Confused, Eddie then asked, "What about the Azalea?"

"Busy too."

"With what?"

Nina swayed her head. "With dates…" With that, she soared into the sky again.

~ 0 ~

"Okay-" Belén rushed into her room where Maritza and Axel were plopped on her bed, "-how's this one?" She stopped in front of her long mirror and patted down her dark scarlet, mid-length dress. She turned back and waited for her sister's opinion.

"It's too...plain…" Maritza concluded after a long sway of head.

Belén sighed, letting her hands drop. "Really?"

"Yes, I think you can make a better impression," Maritza smirked.

Blushing, Belén went back to her closet and started looking yet again for a new outfit.

~ 0 ~

Barry sped up and down the stairs with a new outfit for Joe to see. Wearing a long white, button up shirt with a gray vest and dark jeans, he awaited for Joe's opinion. Joe read off a newspaper and gave a thumb's up after one glance, but clearly over the situation. Not even Iris put so much thought into clothes like this. Changing his mind again, Barry shook his head and went back to his room. By the time he came back for one more opinion Joe had switched to work.

Without even looking up, he dead seriously warned, "If you change one more time, I'm gonna shoot you."

With a big breath released, Barry sped back up the stairs to hopefully find the right clothes that wouldn't require a second opinion.

When he finally returned - at a normal pace - downstairs, Iris was just coming in from a day at work. Soon as she saw him, her lips stretched out into one of her signature smirks.

"There he is..." she began.

"Please don't," he decided to beg even though it was futile.

"Now you treat her nice-" she came up to him and pretended to adjust his blazer, "-and try to keep your dorky jokes at a minimum, you're not that funny."

"Iris-" he rolled his eyes.

"-and make sure, for the love of God, not to talk so much about science," she gripped his blazer's lapels, face scrunched, "It's not interesting."

With a smirk, Barry pried her fingers off him and responded with, "I'll have you know she likes when I talk about science."

Iris laughed as he went around her to the door.

~ 0 ~

Belén returned to her bedroom in a new outfit, already weary of so many she had gone through. However, the moment she walked in Maritza gasped and loudly.

"That one! Oh, that's pretty!"

Belén sprinted up to her mirror and studied herself. She patted down the shiny, silver skirt and tilted her head. "You think so?"

"Definitely," Maritza gave a thumbs up. "If you want a guy's opinion let's ask Axel." At the sound of his name, Axel looked up from the tablet Maritza had given him. "Axel what do you think of Auntie Belén's clothes?"

"Pretty!" He cheered. "Are you going to a party?"

"You look really good, Belén, honest," Maritza assured as Belén had turned back to her mirror and stared at herself unsure of her decision.

"You think?" Belén eyed herself up and down, trying to find even the most minuscule flaw before she had to leave. A black laced, long sleeved blouse was tucked under her shiny, fold-over, silver skirt.

"Oh yes," Maritza got up from the bed and walked up behind her younger sister. "But if I say we do something like this with your hair," she grabbed Belén's hair and moved it up into a high pony tail, leaving some strands to frame Belén's face. "Show a little more shoulder," she laughed at Belén's blush. Because Belén's black laced blouse was indeed an off-the-shoulder type, but with her hair down it wasn't really noticeable.

"Mar, it's just a date. I..." Belén saw her sister's smirk in the mirror and laughed. "Oh my God, it's just a date - nothing else is going to happen but a _date_!"

"Hey, I am not judging," Maritza let go of Belén's hair to raise her hands. "But, I mean, don't be scared to show off your best features."

"Do you know how many jokes there are about my legs?" Belén turned around and gestured to her legs. "Cisco can't get over them."

"Well...you do have nice legs..." Maritza said briefly.

"Yes, thank you," Belén turned back to her mirror. She shifted from one side to the other, and Maritza nearly lost it when Belén raised her hair into a pony-tail. "Shut up!"

Maritza just couldn't help herself.

"Auntie Belén, are you going to a party?" Axel looked up after his mother had returned to the bed.

"No, sweetheart, I'm...I'm just going to have dinner with Barry," Belén gave the boy a smile through the mirror as she picked up her hair. Maritza still giggled here and there.

"Why can't you have dinner here?" Axel asked. "We could watch a movie too! Oh! Can we watch Toy Story!?"

"Maybe another time, Axel," Maritza patted her son's shoulder. "Your auntie just wants to spend some time with Barry alone." Belén couldn't help her blush as she did her hair.

The moment the doorbell rang she gasped and jumped to her sister. Axel looked up from the tablet, excited suddenly. "Ding-dong!"

Maritza laughed as her sister scrambled to get her purse and small-heeled black shoes from under the bed. "Have a nice time!" Maritza was able to call out before Belén slammed the door of the room and ran to answer downstairs.

Taking a deep breath and collecting herself, Belén stepped outside to the front porch where Barry awaited her. He nervously stood there, in a white buttoned-up shirt and black tie matching with a black blazer, all paired with dark pants.

"You're on time," Belén said to him, still mildly surprised.

"Yes I am," Barry proudly agreed. "I had a purpose this time!"

"Aw, and was I that purpose?"

"Yes!" Barry awkwardly fumbled with a single Azalea in his hand.

Belén gasped and reached for it. "Please tell me this was for me because it's really, really, cute!"

"Y-yes," Barry nodded, quickly allowing her to take it. "Is it dumb? I thought about getting a full bouquet, but then I thought that was weird-"

"They sell bouquets now?" Belén raised her eyebrows. "I grow mine in the backyard because it was so difficult to find them in the stores."

"You haven't seen them yet?"

"Seen…?"

"Flower stores are selling them for the Azalea now. Fresh every day!"

"No way! Seriously!?"

"Yeah, I can take you tomorrow if you'd like…?"

"Yes, please!" Belén neatly tucked the flower behind her ear and smiled. "Ta-da!"

"You look wonderful," Barry said, looking her over.

"Thanks, and you look handsome yourself," Belén said as she took his offered arm and began walking towards the sidewalk. She then clearly looked him over, admiring his casualness yet dressed-up appearance. "I don't think I've seen you all dressed up," she laughed.

"Christmas?" Barry tried to be casual and not act like he was beginning to match the color of his Flash suit.

"Right," Belén said thoughtfully. "It's kind of fuzzy to be honest, considering all that happened. Please tell me I didn't wear a Christmas sweater…"

"No, no, you looked hot," Barry said without thinking. He nearly had a heart attack and began stuttering for a plausible excuse. "I-I meant, you know...s-scientifically...speaking…"

It was a bit difficult trying to swallow down her laugh as she stopped walking to face him. "Scientifically speaking?"

"Ah...aha," Barry nodded. He looked at her knowing fully well he was now definitely matching the redness of his Flash suit.

Rather slyly, Belén stepped closer to him and looked up at him. "And what does 'scientifically speaking' mean exactly?"

"U-uh...well, you know, there's a basis in science for, um...for every emotion," Barry began, thinking of something smart to say, hopefully to impress her at the least, "Impression, and, um, and awe…and like…"

"But as a scientist, don't you guys like... _not_ believe in anything that involves attraction?" Belén raised one eyebrow.

"Well, I-I…" Barry slowly answered. He was transfixed with her perfume scent he suddenly got a whiff due to their closeness.

"So then what happens when you actually like someone?" Belén asked, actually curious of the matter. "Is it just chemicals for you? How do you explain it?"

"It _cannot_ be science," Barry released a breath after a moment. He upheld her look and realized how crazy beautiful her eyes were when they were filled with curiosity. "At all."

"Ooh, nice answer," Belén laughed but nonetheless blushed.

Barry smiled down at her and mumbled something about a place to eat - nothing Chinese of course.

~ 0 ~

"Oh, spicy!" Belén nearly dropped the portion of food she had eaten off her fork. But even as she chewed it was harder not to spit it all out.

From across the table, Barry tried not to laugh at her. "Bells, just spit it out." She shook her head. "Here-" he reached for a napkin and held it out for her.

Defeated, Belén took it and returned the mighty spicy chicken into it. "Well that's unlady-like," she said with heavy embarrassment. "I'm so sorry." Here they were in a lively restaurant with good food and she begins to ruin it by spitting out food.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Barry assured her, amused as she took a long sip of her drink. "Not a fan of spicy food, then?"

"Mmm, not exactly," Belén said afterwards, the redness on her face fading as she calmed. "I can handle Azalea poison, apparently, but I lose it at spices."

"I didn't know that…"

"Now you do, I guess."

Barry agreed, and then suddenly realized, "I don't think we know much about each other, actually."

In the beginning it was easy to tell Belén thought he was crazy but the more she considered it the more she realized he was sort of right. "I guess we've been busy that...we never actually stopped to get to know each other. Although we do have lots of history now. Question for a question?"

"Ladies first," Barry motioned for her to go ahead.

"Okay, um..." Belén got to thinking for a second, "Have you traveled anywhere before?"

"Besides Star City?" Barry asked, already smiling of embarrassment because that was answer was going to be a big fat 'nowhere'. He was that lame. "And the occasional speed ins for food?"

"Yes," she chuckled. "I mean a proper vacation outside of your boundaries."

"Nowhere - I have never gone anywhere."

"Not even with your family?"

"No," Barry got to thinking about his time with his parents and couldn't remember a vacation outside of Central City. Joe had always been pretty busy after it was him living with Joe and Iris. "What about you? Traveled anywhere interesting?"

"Well, I have family in Italy - from my Dad's side - so I've been there a couple times."

"You've been to Italy?"

"Yeah..."

"Like...Italian Italy?"

Belén laughed. "I don't think there's any other Italian place, Barry."

Barry cleared his throat, embarrassed once more. "Right."

"What's your question?"

"I already asked you mine..."

"No, you just turned my question back to me. C'mon, ask me something," Belén reached for her drink and took a small sip from it.

"Will I ever be able to see those videos you promised of your aerial dancing days?"

"Um..."

"You have to answer," Barry warned once he saw her attempt to eat up some more to avoid answering. "You once said you would-"

"Well, that was before you asked me out!"

"What!? What's that gotta do now!?"

Belén put her fork down and playfully huffed. "You were a friend, I could mess around like I do with Cisco. Now...I'm a little more self-conscious. What if you think I'm bad but you don't want to say it?"

Barry leaned over the table, fairly amused. "I don't think so. I bet you were crazy talented at it. Won't you show me one little ten-second video?"

Belén shrugged slowly, "I...guess we can, sometime." Barry smirked and went back to eating. "My turn! Is it true you tried to take up boxing when you were little?"

Barry almost dropped his fork, making her giggle. "I'm gonna need you to stop talking about me with Iris."

"So it _is_ true!"

"Joe was teaching us and-"

"-Iris kicked your ass-"

"Stop talking about me with her!"

Belén laughed. "How old were you?"

"I don't know, eleven? I don't know," the speedster gave a shrug of his shoulders, eyes looking down at his plate.

"I bet you were cute trying to hold up the gloves," she mimicked with balled fists, managing to elicit a little smile back. "I'm asking for pictures-"

"No you are not," Barry pointed his fork at her. She had to laugh again and it only faded when she got some looks from a nearby table. "My turn," Barry reminded, although slightly more serious now. "And you don't have to answer if you really don't want to, but..."

Belén's eyes slightly widened as she realized the topic of the conversation. "You want to know about my change…"

"Look, I know it's a delicate matter for you, but I want to be there for you and to do that I need to know about it. I promised you I wouldn't say anything and I've kept it."

"This isn't a matter of whether or not I trust you," Belén clarified, "It's just...it's embarrassing."

"But see that's what I disagree with most, Bells. You have these extraordinary powers and here's a side you don't want to use because it's not aesthetically pleasing to you?"

"It's hard, alright? There you go-" she gestured to him, "-clad in leather with a handsome face, being a hero. Now imagine me, going out there in a form that's all green and...scaly…"

"And being a hero," Barry finished for her. "Green or not, you are pretty, you are fantastic."

"That's very sweet for a first date," Belén smiled softly.

"This isn't because we're on a date. It's me, Barry, trying to make my friend, Belén, see how unfair she's being to herself," he didn't know if it was too early or awkward but he reached across the table and took her free hand. "Because I don't like it when you are upset."

The words left an odd feeling in Belén's stomach, but she knew it was a good one. He looked so sincere all she wanted to do was get up and hug him. But, was that too forwards on the first date? She wasn't sure. She settled for words. "You are so sweet," she whispered. And at that moment she was so sure this is the place she wanted to be at, with Barry. Looking down a moment, she took an ounce of courage and began to speak slowly, quietly too. "It was...weird, at first. I mean, things were really weird for me in the beginning because I didn't have help. There were moments where I felt like I wasn't going to be able to hold in the change so I had to...run...make any excuse to be on my own."

"The change came with no pattern?" asked Barry, intending on being the utmost analytical in order to be able to help her.

"Well, I think it has to do with my emotions," Belén bit her lip. "I started noticing that whenever I felt unusually stressed my hand…" she started flexing her left hand like it was going to happen to her right then, "...it would start changing green. It was all sorts of emotions. Sometimes I was just stressed from classes, or from work. Other times one of my friends would piss me off. Then, there were other times where...I felt scared." She paused, looking distant in memories. "Usually I was scared. There were so many things changing and I couldn't understand anything."

"Why didn't you tell anyone at STAR Labs?" Barry had to ask again.

"Many reasons," Belén sheepishly smiled. "At first, things were focused on you, being in your coma. I didn't want to take away any time that could help you. Then, when things got a little...less stressed, I started to get to know them - Cisco, Cait, and Dr. Wells. I was embarrassed." She certainly wasn't going to include the fact going on a date with Cisco made it even more difficult to come clean about herself. That wasn't first date topics.

"And what about me? You didn't feel comfortable with me?" Barry tried his best not to look not sound judgmental. He was determined to hear her out and provide comfort and hopefully solutions for her.

"Well…" Belén made a face that Barry just had to laugh at a little. "You were complex, alright?" She said and began to pick at her plate with her fork. "In the beginning you were just Iris' adoptive brother, a guy I happened to meet."

"And afterwards?" Now slightly more curious of the answer, Barry leaned on the table.

Belén smiled, her face warming as she explained. "You became a goddamn mess in my life."

"Oh-" Barry faked an offended face, "-thanks. That's just...great. Yeah."

Belén giggled and picked up her glass to take a drink. "Your fault for embedding yourself into my life. You decided to help me as the Flash, remember? You started this."

"Not true," Barry crossed his arms. "You started it when you helped Iris look after me in my coma."

"Well, you started it when you told Iris you'd help me with my article so ha! I win!" Belén exclaimed, and rather loudly that she got several looks from other tables. "Oops," she said after a moment, looking at her plate with a red face.

Barry leaned back on his chair and with a very wide smile stared at Belén, and a part of him struggled not to laugh. "So…" he began again, and still mildly embarrassed she looked up, "...what if, you let me help you now?"

"Barry, I don't want anyone to know," she said quietly.

"Between us," clarified Barry. "Just us. No one else."

That seem to make Belén relax a little, but, not entirely understanding, she questioned it. "How's that?"

"I think it would be good to see what sort of abilities this 'change' allows you to do. Maybe it could even help with the abilities you already have. And, Bells, it's always good to make sure your emotions don't run your powers. _You_ run them, not the other way around."

"I don't know…"

Barry reached for one of her hands on the table and looked her in the eyes. "It's okay to be scared, but this time you wouldn't try to handle them alone. I will be there, and I will help you if you need it."

The weight of his words settled on her and the only thing she thought at the moment was of relief. She didn't even question it, she loved it. "O-okay…" she shakily nodded, "Small steps?"

"Absolutely," Barry nodded. "Trust me?"

A smile spread across Belén's lips as she considered those words. "Trust you, Barry Allen? Story of my life."

~ 0 ~

Strolling down the city park, Belén listened to Barry tell a fascinating (or at least that what she made it look like) story about one of his failed science experiments from when he was in middle school.

"And I actually thought making sun prints would be easier but I ended up using the wrong sort of paper - well, Joe got me the wrong ones." Barry rambled on and on, hands in his pockets. "See, cos you need a special kind of sheet so that the print can be made. Although, you do have to like dunk the object you were using into water so you can…" He glanced at Belén who was looking up at him with a wide smile, and suddenly he flushed. Iris' words about not talking about science came back to him. "This is...not the sort of talk for a first date, huh?" A light chuckle escaped Belén's mouth as she looked away. "Yeah, total dork." Barry released a large sigh and a mild blush of red.

"No, it's adorable!" Belén laughed and, with his help, got up on the park's fountain. She slowly walked along it while holding onto Barry's arm just in case she slipped.

"But it's boring, and boring is not what I'm aiming for tonight."

"Aw, don't get upset," Belén stopped walking and turned to face him. "I'ts adorable, okay? How have you not been snatched up already?" she chuckled while Barry awkwardly fumbled with his words. "I mean, you're incredibly intelligent, you're cute, you're so sweet. What's the problem?"

Barry rubbed the back of his head, feeling more embarrassed than earlier. "I...I don't know? It just hasn't happened yet."

"Really? So what about that Clara girl I heard about?" Belén crossed her arms, pretending to be serious.

"I hate Iris," Barry flatly said. He shook his head and shed a little bit of light for her to understand. "Sometimes, it's just been me not going for it. But...you know, for a lot of my childhood and teen years it's been difficult getting through when everyone recognizes you as the kid who's dad murdered your mom."

Belén's eyebrows rose in surprise, no longer playful of the subject. "Oh Barry, I'm so sorry. I...I didn't think…"

"It's fine, you wouldn't have thought about it, I get it." Barry quickly said, definitely not wanting this date to turn gloomy, and yet the more he spoke the harder it became to shrug it off. "It's not so much the issue right now, because it's been a long time since the case, but back then everyone knew who I was. No one except Iris would be around me."

"That must have been terrible…" Belén whispered. She noticed Barry purposely trying to avoid her gaze, despite being close. She wanted to make him feel better, but...what words of comfort could she say to someone who experienced all that he had? It was plain awful. _Do what you do best, be weird_. She put on a smile and spoke, "When I was little, I used to hide inside refrigerators as a game."

The reaction was almost instant. Belén laughed as Barry tried to process what he'd heard, his eyes widening then squinting with confusion was just too funny. " _What_!? You did what!?"

"I used to hide inside refrigerators when I played hide and seek with my brother," Belén repeated, her laughter turning into a series of giggles. "Rayan could _never_ find me."

"Well - yeah, I would think he didn't! Who hides inside fridges!?" Barry exclaimed.

Belén's hand shot high in the air. "Right here!"

"Belén - _what_?" Barry couldn't help laughing too. "You're...you're just..." Belén lowered her hand and smiled cheerfully. Barry stared at her, his own smile softening. He reached to touch her cheek and felt her warm flush under his fingers. His mind flashed back to the night they had returned from their unplanned karaoke night with Caitlin. Belén had looked just as pretty then as she did now...and he wanted to kiss her now just as much as he had before.

He leaned forwards only a bit, stopping to see how Belén responded, maybe she would stop him? It appeared not. She seemed entranced; her eyes flickered between Barry's eyes and lips. A good part of her was impatiently waiting for Barry to just kiss her already, but since he was slow - the _irony_ \- she did it herself.

She kissed him and felt that sense of desire quenched. Barry felt the same; he savored it. His fingers once again came to rest over her cheeks, stroking her skin in circles as they broke apart. They shared one look and smiled at each other. At the same time, their eyes lowered once again to their lips and made it clear - without actually saying a word - this was not over. This time Barry kissed her first. Belén was all too happy for a second one and let Barry feel it when she smiled through their kiss. Barry wrapped his arms around Belén's waist and slowly pulled her off the fountain's ledge to hold her closer to him.

Belén was bright pink on the face when she pulled away, but no one could take her smile away. Barry cleared his throat, fumbling to come up with something good to say after that but as luck would have it...he had nothing but stutters.

"The girls missed their chance because now I'm snatching you up," Belén beat him to it again. She leaned on him, grinning from ear to ear. "Is that alright with you?"

The same grin covered Barry's face. "Definitely."

~ 0 ~

The next day, Belén reported for work in her most cheery mood ever. She walked over to her desk and put down her purse. Just as she was about to start on her work, she Noah and Mason stopped by. "I'd say good morning but I think it's about to change," she said directly towards Mason. "Morning, Noah," she purposely greeted the younger colleague with a smile.

"Don't be mad," Noah chuckled, coming closer to her. "But Mason had a really good idea for a next story."

Belén once again suspiciously looked at Mason. "You're not our mentor."

"It's an interesting one you definitely want to look into," Mason said, quite sure of himself as he put down a blueprint on her desk.

Belén's eyes flickered between the blueprint and Mason. "Um, why is there a blueprint of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator on my desk?"

"To help the story," Mason said like it were obvious and that she should have seen it before.

"Do you actually know anything about physics?"

"Not a thing. Might as well be in Dothraki."

"So then what the he'll are you doing?" Belén dreaded to ask the two men.

"Belén, he's just doing his job," Noah replied. "Maybe there's a little more we don't know about yet."

"I can guarantee you we do," she picked up the plans and rolled it up as if it were a scroll then held it for Mason to take it back.

"What's your reasoning?" Mason challenged.

Belén knew it was best if he didn't know about her good knowledge of STAR Labs or she would never get rid of him. "Dr. Wells said he was warned of disasters. The story finished there and then."

"Yeah. Why do you think he did that?"

"Because he's a good person?"

"Is he?"

"I happened to know of a person - specifically Iris' - friend that was saved because of this lab. So, excuse me, but we're done here." With her hands, Belén shooed him away. Afterwards, she sharply looked to Noah. "That is the last time I want to hear about this."

Noah smiled a fake smile and left. But as he turned away he showed his true feelings- anger. He, like Mason, knew there was something very differently going on in that building. It was why he offered himself for the story, despite having a different mentor. Perhaps if Belén realized how twisted STAR Labs was she would learn where her true place was.

"Hey," Iris greeted Belén just as she plopped down on her desk chair. She cast a suspicious look at Mason with his rolled up blueprints. "What was that about?"

Belén shook her head and hands to signal she didn't even want to go into that subject again. "Useless stuff. I'm sorry that guy is your mentor."

"He's not that bad," Iris shrugged, by now used to Mason's behavior.

"Oh no, he's bad," Belén shook her head again then leaned back on the chair. "My first day he said to me, and I quote, ' _You are a talentless twat_ '."

"More or less what he said to me," Iris mused, taking a seat on the edge of Belén's desk. "I guess that's just his way of greeting newbies."

"I could have done without that type of greeting," Belén shook her head but then took a moment to remember she was _not_ going to let anyone, including Mason, bring her down. Things were just too good right now.

Iris couldn't read minds, but with the big grin on Belén's face, she could almost pass as one. "Soo...I fell asleep before Barry came home..." Belén cleared her throat and tried to focus on turning on her computer. "What happened?" Iris didn't hesitate to sit herself on Belén's desk and wait for the story to be told. "Was it fun? Did he talk a lot about science because I told him _not_ to-"

"He-" Belén cut her off with a small chuckle, "-talked about science-"

"Oh, Barry-" Iris gave a shake of her head.

"-and he was lovely," Belén finished, once again returning to her ever-lasting smiles. "He was _so_ lovely, I...I really did have a good time with him."

"I can tell," Iris waved a finger at Belén's face, making the ombre-haired woman laugh. "In all seriousness it does make me happy to know it worked out. It just had to."

"Well, thanks to you and Caitlin - little matchmakers," Belén pretended to huff with annoyance.

"Yeah, you'll thank us on your wedding day, you'll see!" and Iris laughed to the point of almost falling off Belén's desk after seeing Belén go incredibly red on the face.

"Go to work, Iris!"

When Iris finally left her, Belén intended on working and working. There were plenty of articles to write based on the latest meta attacks. It was exceptionally a busy day since _the Tempest_ had made her debut. Nina was on almost every blog - including Iris' - on the internet. So far, the people were fascinated with a flying metahuman helping keep the city safe. It was definitely a treat getting to write about such a close friend that Belén never noticed the time flying by. It was Barry who managed to pull her out of her working mode.

"Barry, hi!" Belén got up from her desk just as the speedster came up to her. At first she wondered how to greet him - a hug? A kiss? Oh my God she was just making this more difficult. Why was it difficult? She didn't remember being like this with her previous boyfriends. _Well none of them were like Barry_ , she thought and decided she was right.

"I wanted to see if you could come with me to Professor Stein's," Barry said, and with the unusual dispirited aura around Belén assumed something new had happened and that it was no good.

"So, you wanna tell me what's going on?" Belén asked as soon as they were walking in the streets.

Barry sighed and began to retell the story. This wasn't the type of conversation he wanted to have with her, especially the first one after their date. Sometimes, he didn't like this metahuman, weird life he had. "Joe reopened the investigation for my mom's murder and somehow he and Cisco got a...a machine-"

"You're dumbing it down for me," Belén flatly said, sarcastically smiling at him. "Thanks," she laughed afterwards and gestured for Barry to continue.

"Uh, well, basically, through holograms, they discovered that, somehow, I was there that night - this me," he gestured to himself.

Belén made a face, and a thoroughly confused one as she processed what that meant. "But...but if...if _you_ were there…" she pointed at Barry, "...does that mean you...time traveled?"

Barry awkwardly shrugged because even he didn't know it at the moment. "I...don't...really know…"

"That would be so cool, though - you time travelling," she couldn't help feel so excited at the idea. "Do you realize how amazing that would be? You get to time travel, Barry!"

"Yeah, well, if I did, then I failed to save my mom," Barry couldn't help himself from saying the only thing that ran through his mind ever since he found out from Joe.

At that moment, Belén's excitement vanished, her smile fading when she realized how Barry must have felt when he learned about it. "Oh my God," she stopped and turned to him. "I'm so sorry, _that's_ why you're upset. Because you think this is what happened?"

"It's why I wanted to see Professor Stein. He wrote a paper on it, and...who knows, maybe he has some answers," Barry shrugged, although his casualness didn't go by so well.

"Okay," Belén nodded, "But you don't have to pretend to be so quiet about it. You're upset, you have a right to be. Don't downplay it."

"Thanks Bells," Barry lightly smiled at her.

"Uh, just one more question," she raised a finger, making him smile wider, "Why exactly did you come for _me_? I mean, I think out of everyone I am the least qualified person you want to bring to a renowned professor's home. You should've asked Dr. Wells, honestly."

"I wanted you to be with me," Barry went straight for the truth. He was mildly pleased to see the surprise reaction on her face. "I just...I need you, Bells. And I know we've only had one date but I think I've always needed you around me when things got tough. You talk to me when I need it, make me feel better, so...would you come with me, please?"

Belén grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Whisk me away, my singing scientist."

Barry found it possible to laugh for a moment. This was exactly what he was talking about - she had the perfect ability to make him feel good.

He took them off the streets and had them in front of the Steins' residence. The two headed up the front porch and knocked on the front door. They were greeted by Clarissa Stein, and a slightly surprised one too.

"Mrs. Stein, I'm sorry to bother you here, but is Professor Stein here right now?" Barry asked in his utmost polite tone.

Clarissa crossed her arms, momentarily showing determinism. "Well, after a year apart, I'm not letting him out of my sight." But then, she stepped slightly closer to the two and quietly asked. "STAR Labs did quite a few tests on Martin, didn't they... and they said he was fine?"

"You don't sound very convinced," Belén said afterwards. "Is something not right?"

"He just seems a little different, is all…"

"Well, just to forewarn you, anyone affected by the Particle Accelerator isn't going to be the same person they were before." Belén tried to be a little comforting yet still being factual. She believed she had some experience in that department as did Barry...Nina...

But still, Clarissa did not seem convinced. "He's been asking for pizza. Martin despises pizza. I doubt the accelerator changes childhood likes."

Just then, Professor Stein came up behind Clarrisa, looking excited. "Is that the delivery man?" It was actually rather amusing (at least for Belén) to see his face fall in such hopelessness when he saw them two. "Oh, Mr. Allen. I suppose it's too much to hope you moonlight as a pizza boy. I am famished."

Although taken aback by the request, Barry agreed and zoomed away. Belén decided to introduce herself (again) and reached a hand out to Stein. "I'm Bel-" she flinched when Barry returned, his force of wind throwing some of her hair back on her face. With a little sarcastic glare on him, she pushed her hair back. "I'm Belén. I work with them at STAR Labs."

"I remember, yes," Stein shook her hand and then took the pizza box from Barry.

"Although really when I say I work with them I really just mean I stand behind them and see what they're doing," Belén added as they were led inside.

Stein was already midway opening the pizza box when he responded. "What can I do for you both?"

Barry, still uncomfortable, stuttered as he spoke up. "I... I needed to talk to you about a paper that you wrote 25 years ago for the Oxford University Press."

Stein intended on cutting a slice of pizza there and then. "I've written many papers for that publication. Could you be more specific about the subject matter?"

As he picked up the slice, Barry took an involuntary pause. He felt a little nudge on his side and looked down to see Belén nodding him to go on, encouraging him. He was incredibly happy to have brought her with him.

"Time travel," he finally answered, looking directly at Stein who has frozen just inches from biting his pizza slice.

~ 0 ~

In Stein's office, Stein had begun to explain the subject- apparently one of his favorites - to the two metas. As he uncovered one (of the dozen more) boards revealing many mathematical equations, he explained, "These are just a few of the random thoughts I've had on the subject."

Belén stood across the two men tilting her head at yet another uncovered board filled with mathematics. "A few?" She scoffed lightly. "This is...like my worst nightmare all put into one room. Algebra and Calculus…" she pretended to shiver.

It was Stein's turn to scoff. "Algebra and Calculus? My dear, this is much more complex than-"

Barry purposely cleared his throat loudly to interrupt. He made a cutting motion across his neck followed by a low mumble of 'Let her be'. Belén glanced their way completely unaware.

"What was that?"

Stein discreetly looked at Barry who was still silently asking not to correct the woman. He supposed it was some odd way to keep her content and give him points? Young people were completely unorthodox nowadays. Still, who was he to ruin it for them?

"Nothing," he smiled at the woman who disregarded it and went back to looking at other boards. He did, however, acknowledge Barry's grateful look with a nod and went right ahead to reasoning. "See, I believe that spacetime is a free-flowing highway that intersects the physical world. We live in... in the moments between the on and off ramps. Theoretically, to travel through time, one merely needs to find a way onto the highway."

"Okay, so... so you're saying that this is actually possible to... to travel into the future?" Barry was all for the impossible but shouldn't there be a limit somewhere?

"Undoubtedly."

Well, apparently not.

"What about the past?" he asked, moving to sit on the edge of the desk behind him.

"Yes. My own personal choice would be the Chicago World's Fair, 1893," Stein admitted. "I... I think Nicola Tesla and I would have some wonderful arguments. What about you? Would you be interested in taking a trip into history?"

Belén surprised them both when she quickly responded with, "Paris 1827 - Marie Taglioni débuts in the ballet La Sylphide." She sheepishly smiled after getting confused looks from them. "I like dance." She noticed Barry trying to uphold a little smile but it was evident that Stein's declarations were not easing his mind. "Say it, Barry. It's why we came."

Confused, Stein looked at the man in question who was, indeed, struggling to speak up. "Professor, I think...I think that I already have." Stein's eyes widened but let Barry continued. "Professor, um... 15 years ago, my mom was murdered and we recently discovered some evidence that... I was there that night, and not just as a kid, but as an adult."

"That must be a side effect of your incredible speed," Stein began to rationalize, even pacing a bit. "In some... future date, you actually move so fast that the resulting kinetic energy buildup smashes a hole in the space-time continuum!" By the time he finished he was beaming with excitement. Belén too seemed happy but when he saw Barry's grim face he stopped. "You seem disappointed by the prospect."

"I mean, if I do somehow make it back there to that night, then…" Barry paused, looking even worse, "...it means that I didn't save her. My destiny is to fail."

Neither person in the room with him had anything to say for a moment. Then, Belén cleared her throat and asked for a minute alone with Barry. Once Stein graciously agreed and walked out, she walked up to Barry.

"Okay, look-"

But Barry was done thinking of any other thoughts. "Amazing, I play out to be a hero but I can't save my own mother."

"You don't know what happened-"

"-No I _do_ know! I _failed_!" he accidentally snapped at her, causing her to mildly flinch of surprise. He sighed and stood away from the desk, speaking much gentler this time. "I'm sorry."

Belén didn't look remotely upset as she put her hand on his arm. "What I meant to say was that...you don't know what happened from your future adult point of view. I mean, you say that one moment you were in your living room but then the next you were suddenly on a random street. Well, after that it was only you and the Reverse Flash in the room…" she paused, quietly adding, "And your mother. Only they know what truly happened. You can't say you failed when you don't know what happened right?"

Barry looked at her a long moment, thinking of every word she said. Her eyes pleaded him to at least consider her point. He had to admit that perhaps there was a certain amount of truth in them. No one had been in that room after he, as a child, had been taken away. Now, even if it was true, why in the hell would he let his mother be killed? Why couldn't he save her? Was it because he wasn't fast enough? Not clever enough?

Somewhere outside the room glass shattered. The two metahumans sprung in alarm and rushed out the room to see what had caused the sound. They found Stein using the kitchen counter for support while Clarissa worriedly tried helping.

"Martin? What's wrong?"

Stein shook his head, a hand going over his chest. "I don't know, I... I feel terrified. My... my heart is racing. I think... I think Ronald is in trouble."

"How could you know that?" Belén inquired, rather confused.

Stein discarded the question and urgently told them. "Jitters. He needs help. Go!"

Belén looked up to Barry. "You should go, I won't get there in time." Agreeing, Barry left them to go seek Ronnie.

As the Flash, he found Ronnie just where Stein had said - Jitters. Ronnie was outnumbered by General Eiling and his men. It was very easy using speed to knock Eiling's men out. However, as soon he moved to Eiling he was surprise-attacked with a small black device thrown into the air that turned into dozens of sharp metal pins. Before Barry knew it, they had gone directly towards him and knocked him down by diving into his suit and skin.

Eiling smugly looked at Barry on the ground as he writhed in pain. "Stings, doesn't it? Had that one developed especially for you. Micro fragments attracted to kinetic energy. Firestorm was tonight's main objective, but getting you... that's just gravy."

Suddenly, a white van frantically drove towards them from the other side of the alley and with the distraction Ronnie punched Eiling across the face. The van swerved and Caitlin opened up the doors.

"Get in!"

Ronnie helped Barry get up, although still being covered in pins, and quickly got into the van.

~ 0 ~

Barry thought about every moment of physical pain he ever felt and decided that this precise one was definitely one of the worst. Caitlin had to remove each fragment one by one, by just plucking it from his skin.

From across Wells overlooked the procedure along with Ronnie. "You need to hurry, Barry's wounds are starting to heal with the fragments still under his skin."

Cisco, standing on the other side of the bed holding a metal bowl for Caitlin to dump in the fragments, flinched each time Caitlin pulled one fragment from Barry's skin. "This is just like that time I stepped on a sea urchin. Only much worse "

"Just don't pee on me," Barry tried to be humorous despite barely being able to talk from his pain.

"Uh, you know that's a myth, right?"

Barry yelped as Caitlin took one pin from his neck. Caitlin apologetically looked at him before shaking her head and filling up with guilt. "I'm so stupid. Jason Rush, the grad student who was helping Professor Stein with his Firestorm research, he said that the army took all of Professor Stein's material when he disappeared. I should have known it was General Eiling."

"Not your fault," Wells said and glanced at Ronnie. "He still thinks you hold the keys to the ultimate human weapon... both of you."

"Okay, let's just finish this," Barry tried to gesture with a hand but that proved to be impossible when it was still covered in pins. "I gotta get to Stein's house. Eiling's gonna be after him too and Bells is still there."

"Stein's fine," Ronnie calmly said.

Cisco looked at him oddly. "How do you know?"

"He's right there," Ronnie gestured to Stein who stood beside Belén by the cortex entrance.

"I didn't think it was prudent for him to stay alone right now," Belén briefly explained before rushing over to Barry and the others. "What in the hell happened to you!?" her hands moved back and forth as she decided what way to help.

"Eiling is back," Cisco was the one to answer, relieving Barry the requirement of talking with the most of the pins still stuck on him.

At this Belén shot up a look to Wells. "What does he want now?"

"Firestorm," Ronnie replied while looking at Stein. "And we doubt he's going to stop."

"We have to run some tests on you both again," Caitlin warned them. "And fast."

"Then do it right now, I can do this," Belén said to her and gestured to be handed the basic tweezers. "I don't think I need to be a doctor for this, right?"

Caitlin agreed and handed the tool over. She ushered Ronnie and Stein for one of the exam rooms with the aid of Cisco. Wells soon followed to oversee that it went correctly. Belén set to work on the shards and cursed under her breath thinking that she wouldn't be heard.

"Why the hell are you laughing? Does this look like something you should be laughing at?" She sent Barry a sarcastic glare for his small chortles.

"I didn't know...you cursed," he managed to say without many paused.

"Well stick around and you'll learn more," she crookedly smiled back and promptly pulled out one particular pin near his collarbone that made him yelp. "Sorry!" She paused her work and glanced to see if anyone was still around, thinking perhaps she wasn't adequate for the job after all.

"It's fine," Barry assured her, able to see her mild fear in her eyes. "My fast healing is proving to be a nuisance for once."

"There has got to be an easier way to do this…" she bit her lip and suddenly looked at her free hand.

"What?" Barry saw the thinking wheels in her head.

"Well...I do create multiple...vines…" she was mumbling, her voice coming in and out. "...maybe...work…"

"Bells? These things hurt-" Barry called her again, "- a lot."

"Sorry," she sheepishly looked at him. "I was just thinking that maybe instead of pulling these things off one by one I could use my vines to grab each one and pull them off at the same time. Though, maybe it could hurt more than now."

"Nothing hurts more than now. Do it," he said, nodding for her to go on.

Belén still didn't look completely sure of her own idea. "Barry, I'm telling you it might hurt a _lot_."

"For a moment. But right now my skin is healing and it's taking these things with it. Just do it Bells."

Belén murmured a soft 'Okay' and put down the tweezer. She hovered her hands over his chest and created the vines that branched into many more which then curled around the fragments. Barry intently watched her scrunch her face as she prepared to pull them off.

"I'm so sorry," she said in advance. She used her force and yanked all fragments from his body.

Indeed Barry did scream at the top of his lungs from the unbearable pain. Belén dropped the pins on the floor and gasped in horror thinking it had been too much. Cisco came running back to see what happened and Belén weakly explained, while Barry panted from the pain, what she did.

"Sick," Cisco concluded with a very impressed smile.

Belén was debating whether or not to touch Barry but she still looked for any outstanding physical injury. "Barry, I told you it would hurt more. Next time I'll just stay where I belong behind the computer chairs where I can hurt no one-"

"It's okay," Barry grasped her wrist that neared him. "It's fading…" he made up. She looked incredibly alarmed like it was her fault.

"That's gonna sting later dude," Cisco remarked. "Like...everywhere…"

"Go away Cisco," Barry ordered sharply. Cisco raised his hands and turned for the exam room where the others were.

"I'm so sorry, he's so right," Belén was still rambling an apology to him. "I should've just stuck with what the actual Doctor was doing."

"Belén it's really okay," Barry finally had the energy to chuckle. He dragged his hand from her wrist to her hand and lowered it to it over his heart. "It's beating isn't it?"

"Yes, but that's not what I meant and you-" she sighed and forgone it. She pulled her hand from his and put both her hands on either side of his face, leaning closer. "You quit giving me heart attacks. Just because yours beats faster now doesn't mean mine can too. That's not fair!"

Barry tried not to look as smug as he really felt, but he failed miserably at it. "I guess you really do care about me, huh?"

Unamused, Belén just looked at him. "If you weren't cute I'd smack you for that. But, yes, I do."

"You wanna know something?"

"What?"

"My heart's beating faster now," Barry said with the widest of smiles.

Belén laughed, shaking her head. "You're so cheesy - that was lame."

"But it was the truth!" Barry exclaimed, feigning offense. "You don't appreciate my honesty?"

Belén looked at him a moment and rolled her eyes, unable to contain another laugh. "Oh alright."

She helped him up afterwards, still highly sorry for giving him sore pains from her gimmick. They met with the others to discuss what was really going on with Ronnie and Stein. Unfortunately, it appeared the two were still perfectly in sync with each other and with Eiling still out there, they would not be taking any chances. They split the two up to keep them safe.

The next day, Caitlin and Ronnie were to stay with Barry and Joe while Stein remained at S.T.A.R Labs. Belén reported to work like nothing, but discreetly kept an eye out for anything related to the Jitters attack. The last thing they needed was more exposure. However, people were more clever this time and approached a different cub reporter for the story.

Iris was walked by with a folder in hand when Mason scurried on after her. "Oh, hey... hey. You said you knew some of the leftover scientists at the STAR Labs. What about a Caitlin Snow, M.D." He pulled up a black and white security picture of Caitlin having dinner with Ronnie at Jitters. "You know her?"

Iris raised an eyebrow, completely startled."Yeah, I know her, why?"

"There was an incident at a local coffee shop. She was there."

"So?" Iris looked at the picture much closely and realized the place. "That's Jitters. I used to work there."

"Look, I tried being nice with your little colleague over there-" Mason jerked a thumb in the direction of Belén's desk where the latter currently worked on, "-and she flat out turned me down."

"Well," Iris took the picture from him, studying it a little closer, "it would have to do with you intending on writing a hater story on her friends."

"Well her friends are in a weird situation. Get this: Witnesses swear they saw soldiers shooting the place up, so I contacted the Army's media relations division and asked, "Are soldiers permitted to operate like that on U.S. soil?" You know what they told me? _Hooah_?"

Iris had recognized Caitlin's 'Cousin Sam' in the picture. She had met them this morning when they came over to her dad's. "That's weird, Caitlin didn't mention anything the last time I saw her."

Mason raised an eyebrow, almost delighted to hear that Iris also knew the STAR Labs "Really? When and where was that?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this," Iris decided to keep the picture in her folder and promptly walked away. She had eyes trained on Belén next and that was who she walked for. She wondered if Belén knew anything about this, although given her new closeness with Barry she doubted Barry would be stupid enough not to tell her.

She casually stopped by Belén's desk and greeted her with a simple 'Hey'. Belén looked up from her computer and smiled.

"Hey Iris," she said back, lowering a pen.

 _Be casual_ , Iris told herself before speaking again. "Sooo, I just met Caitlin's cousin Sam today. They're staying with my dad's."

"Oh...right," Belén nodded slowly, hoping to God Iris wouldn't question a lot on it. "Cait's apartment was, um…"

"Flooded?"

"Yes! Yes, it's flooded. They told me this morning and I thought Barry was nice enough to bring them with him."

"And...that's the only reason…?"

Confused, Belén tilted her head. "What else is there?"

"No, nothing," Iris immediately backed off. She picked up her folder off the desk and smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Mhm," Belén watched her go off, still not quite understanding what had just happened.

Iris concluded that there was something going on and she was purposely not being told anything of it.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, the team had received a terrible call in from Wells telling them Eiling had forcibly came for Stein. Wells had sold the story that Stein was taken by force from the military. They dropped what they were doing and rushed to STAR Labs.

"He didn't hurt you?" Barry asked after a thorough check of the vicinity.

Wells merely shook his head, gesturing to his clean appearance. "Barry, I told you... only my pride is hurt. Unfortunately, I'm not in the position to take on armed soldiers."

"Where do you think Eiling took Professor Stein?"

"I imagine some off-the-books military research facility."

"We have to get him back," Caitlin urgently pushed for ideas .

"Easy... Eiling has already demonstrated he has the weaponry to disable The Flash, or worse."

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing," Belén crossed her arms.

"How do we find him?" Ronnie asked and immediately gave everyone the idea. Once eyes landed on him, he stiffened. "What?"

He was soon strapped back to the brain wave detection machines to hopefully catch something of Stein. Caitlin, who was in lead conducting the exams, stepped back with a somewhat relieved look.

"No abnormal brain activity. All vitals steady."

"You really think Ronnie can somehow feel where they're keeping Stein?" Barry was looking in doubt at Ronnie.

"Ronnie got dizzy when the soldiers grabbed Stein," reminded Cisco, "and Stein developed Ronnie's obsession with pizza "

"I don't feel anything right now," Ronnie frowned. Whatever this is, it doesn't have an on and off switch."

"It's possible it's just some kind of residual connection," suggested Wells, "A temporary link to your time together."

"Wait," Rinnie suddenly froze, "I feel something. I'm... I'm cold." Two minutes later he screamed in what sounded like horrible pain, only there wasn't anything hurting _him_ per say.

"What's going on!?" Belén asked, terrified of the sight. Caitlin and Cisco were trying to hold Ronnie to his chair but it was like the two didn't exist for Ronnie at the moment.

"Nothing's happening to him," Wells explained quick. "It's happening to Stein, and Ronnie is feeling his pain. I was wrong. The connection's not temporary. It's only getting stronger "

"Water. Water!" Ronnie frantically called out.

Cisco reached for the glass on the table beside Ronnie but after picking it up Ronnie snatched it, smashed it against the table, and took a shard of glass. As he tried to cut himself with it, Caitlin shrieked and tried stopping him.

"Ronnie, no!"

"Wait, Cait, wait!" Barry suddenly exclaimed.

"He's cutting himself!"

"I know. Let him." Barry said, and warned himself quite an indignant look back.

She looked back and saw Ronnie was beginning to write something on his arm. The word 'where' was written in blood on the arm after a minute, and thus Stein, wherever it was he was, would bear the same word across his flesh as well. Caitlin fought the monumental urge to smack Ronnie for what he did, understanding it had been for a good cause.

"Anything?" Cisco asked after a long moment.

"Nothing. Nothing, just...just cold. Like a metal surface." Ronnie paused and focused as best he could. "Pressure on and on and off. Tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap."

"What the-" Belén was midway when Cisco answered her.

"Morse code. I got this!" he dashed for another table where a clipboard laid.

"Same thing again," Ronnie said. "Tap, tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap."

Cisco, after writing down, looked up. "27. What does it mean?"

"Army bases…" Barry said at once, "they sometimes go by numbers, like Area 51."

Cisco nodded and ran to get the information through a computer. "Facility 27, about 300 miles away," he said as he typed. "It was shut down in 1961."

"Then that has to be where Professor Stein is," Belén beamed.

"Bet you that's where they're keeping aliens too," Cisco pointed at her.

"If they're good ones I'll set them free," she chuckled. She suddenly stopped and called out, "And you're not gonna leave without me this time, Barry Allen." The metahuman in question stopped midway towards the doors. He turned around, mouth opened to make his case when she interrupted. "Last time you left, you came back with pins stuck on you! I'm coming with you!"

"And so am I," Ronnie hopped off his chair and came up beside Belén.

"Outnumbered," Belén smirked.

Caitlin nowhere near agreed and grabbed Ronnie from behind. "No, you're not. You can't."

Ronnie pried her hand from his arm and sighed. "I'm connected to Stein. I have to go."

"But did you ever stop to think why your connection to him is growing stronger by the minute? Maybe you're being drawn back together. Maybe your proximity will cause you to re-merge into one."

Ronnie did consider that but something more important overrode it. "And what happens to me if he gets killed? Cait, Barry was right. The world is different now. Look, I... I thought we could get away, start a new life, a normal life, together. But there is no normal life for us. You will always risk your life to try and help people, and I will always be the guy that runs into that pipeline for you."

Wells called for them and held out a familiar little device. "The quantum splicer. It was used to separate you once. Maybe it could be of use to keep you you."

Ronnie graciously took it and followed Belén and Barry out of the room. In a dark night, the three set out to the proposed building of Area 27. It was barely lit but still enough to see several people roaming just outside it.

"Oh. This place definitely doesn't look too shady," Barry remarked sourly.

"Sorry, should we request a building with better quality to break into?" Belén sarcastically asked, crossing her arms as she tried peering closer.

"Stein's inside," Ronnie seemed focused. "I can feel our connection growing stronger, like he's pulling me."

Wells spoke through the comms. "It's as I feared... the Firestorm matrix is building toward a proximity reemergence. Like all matter, it yearns to be whole. If you do merge... we might not be able to separate you again."

The three shares a troubling look with each other. Ronnie once again stiffened as he felt another surge of emotions that didn't belong to him. "Eiling has a gun to Stein's head. He's about to pull the trigger."

Barry didn't waste a moment more and sped inside the building to retrieve Stein. Just mere seconds before Eiling pulled the gun, Barry pulled Stein off the metal chair and brought him back outside.

"Ho! Whoa... I never thought I'd be happy to see you," Stein said to Ronnie once the motion had stopped.

"Yeah, likewise. Let's get out of here," Ronnie turned to begin leaving when they heard a jeep pulling up from the other side of the gate.

"Get them away!" Barry ordered Belén who didn't argue back. She ushered Stein and Ronnie farther down the road.

Barry meant to distract the soldiers or hopefully take them all down but they surprised him with a bazooka-looking weapon. It blasted him with some sort of silver chemical that looked like dry ice billowing smoke.

"Barry, I'm picking up some serious pH numbers on your suit," Cisco called from the comm.

Barry twisted and turned but the chemical stung him everywhere. "They hit me with some kind of chemical!"

"It's a weaponized phosphorous!"

"Water or foam won't extinguish it," Wells explained but added, "But you can't burn in a vacuum, so you need to create one. Run, Barry. Run!"

With no other choices, Barry did as told and sped off the side of the road and ran in a circle. Meanwhile, Belén had taken Ronnie and Stein just down the road to hide behind some bushes.

"You should keep hidden," Belén told them both, but neither man thought it right for her to go in alone.

"There's too many out there," Ronnie said, getting a glimpse of one of the nearing jeeps.

"I just wish I could find Eiling first," Belén scowled. "If we get him, the others are bound to fall too. Just stay here." Her vines wrapped around her body until she disappeared.

She surprised one of the jeeps by reforming on the open driver's side. Before they reacted, she opened her mouth and released a decent amount of Azalea poison, enough to knock them out for a while. She let go quick and sprinted into a stop on the road, quite impressed with herself that she managed to pull that one off. It always appeared like something only a television show could pull off.

Then she heard more nearing jeeps.

She whirled around and saw three more of them coming down her way. Ignoring her fear, she disbanded and charged for them.

Ronnie was able to see her from the hiding spot, but was also able to see more coming from the opposite direction. "We need to merge again," he told Stein.

"Ronnie, no!" Caitlin quickly voiced her opposition from the comm.

"Cait, we're dead if we don't," Ronnie urgently explained as he saw the jeeps getting closer.

"Listen to me," Wells took over the comm. "The last time you two combined, you both fought it. This time, don't. Accept the change, accept the balance. Accept each other."

Stein looked resigned to their last option and openly said, "Once more unto the breach, dear friend."

Ronnie nodded, and as he pulled out the splicer he spoke to Caitlin once more. "Cait... whatever happens, just remember I'll always love you."

He placed the splicer on his chest and once it activated, he held a hand for Stein. Stein took Ronnie's hand and immediately merged into Firestorm.

"Can you hear me, Ronald?" Ronnie heard Stein from within the mind.

"Professor?" Ronnie began stepping into the roadside. He saw Belén had stopped two of the jeeps on her way but was still working on the last with more of her pink poison.

"It appears we merged properly on this attempt. Wells was right about balance and accepting. Behind you!"

Ronnie turned around and faced the other jeeps coming. He blasted them with fire, causing several to explode.

"Ronald, there's more of them," Stein warned again as a last jeep emerged from the fire.

He blasted it again with fire and saw success. However, Eiling had managed to escape from the other side and was coming for them.

"Eiling, this ends now," declared Ronnie, ready to attack again if needed.

"Yes, it does... For both of you," Eiling pulled out a glowing blue device and three it into the air. The moment it did it blasted Ronnie onto the ground. "An ion grenade. Just bombarded your cellular structure with enough ions to destabilize your matrix." He started getting out a gun from his side pocket. "Mr. Raymond, Professor Stein, you're both fine Americans. Your country thanks you for your sacrifice."

But before he clicked the trigger, Belén reappeared in front of him, wasting no time in punching him across the face. The moment he hit the ground, she covered him in vines. "Try getting out of that one," she smirked.

A second later Barry came in, most of his suit charred and dried from the chemical drying up after his long run. "I was gonna do that!"

"Beat you to it," she winked. She then turned around and bent down in front of Ronnie. "Are you, um, two, okay?"

"Yeah," Ronnie answered and got up with her help.

Belén then glanced back at Barry and chuckled. "Cisco is so gonna kill you this time," she warned, gesturing to his tarnished suit.

Barry had nothing to say on that subject because he was pretty sure that was right. "Home?" he asked them instead.

"Oh yeah," Belén nodded.

Ronnie agreed and, using his flames, flew high into the sky to get a head start. The remaining metahumans looked up, still heavily in awe.

"You want a lift?" Barry then asked Belén.

"No, not like that," Belén shook her head and gestured to his suit's condition. "You're all...eugh…"

Somewhere in there they heard someone snicker from the comm.

Barry feigned offense and tilted his head. "I'm giving you a lift."

"No…"

"I'm doing it," Barry warned, making a step towards.

"No!"

Barry made a threatening advance on her, smirking as she panicked and jumped back .

"Nooo!" she drew out in pleading manner.

Laughing, Barry told her he was only joking, something she didn't quite buy. She cautiously left on her own terms and prayed to God he was telling the truth. She was a clean freak, and at the moment he was not clean!

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe you ruined my suit again," Cisco was shooting Barry death glares from across the room as the former studied the practically destroyed suit.

"I said I was sorry," Barry frowned. "And it's not like I wanted to be shot at with phosphorus. Now please can we just - Caitlin, I told you it was really nothing," he stopped and glanced at the biochemist standing on the side of the bed he sat on, trying to get a better look at a big, purple burn on his side near his stomach.

"You said you were shot with phosphorus," she gave him a pointed look.

"It looks worse than it is," he promised and pushed down his shirt.

At that moment, Belén walked in with Ronnie and Professor Stein, now separated, and immediately Caitlin forgot about Barry's condition. She rushed across the room to encase Ronnie in a big hug.

"It looks like they can separate and join at will now," Belén announced cheerfully as she made way for the other two in the room, "At least that's what Dr. Wells was able to dumb down for me." Without such warning, she smacked Barry on the back of the head.

"OW!"

Stein winced, Cisco burst out laughing from his spot and Belén crossed her arms in front of the injured metahuman. "I don't like it when people try to dirty me," she pointed at him.

"I deserve that," Barry said in a resigned sigh as he rubbed his head. "Hug?"

"You don't get hugs," Belén declared and looked away.

" _Cold_ ," Cisco flashed them a smirk.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Iris fervently went through her old blog about metahumans. After having an odd conversation with Caitlin over her 'Cousin' she decided to see for herself whether Caitlin was telling the truth.

Because Iris swore she had seen that cousin somewhere once.

And then she saw it. The Burning Man. Iris leaned closer to the computer screen, eyes squinted as she studied the blurry picture of what people had claimed was a burning man spotted on the street.

With one glance at Belén, who didn't notice as she worked on her own assignment across the room, Iris began printing the picture.

Mason flinched at the slap of paper Iris did on his desk. He barely glanced at the photograph before asking, sarcastically, "Am I supposed to know what that means?"

Iris rolled her eyes. "It means that I'm gonna help you figure out what's going on at STAR Labs. I think our Burning Man used to work there." She said, 100% sure of her supposition, and because she was sure, the pain hurt as well.

Because if this was true, then it would mean that Caitlin knew, and if Caitlin knew, then Barry and Belén knew as well...and they didn't tell her.

~ 0 ~

"Ooooh, is that ice cream?" Belén was delighted to see Barry standing on her porch with a box of strawberry ice cream in his hand.

Chuckling, Barry nodded and gestured her to take it. "And sprinkles," he jiggled the jar of sprinkles in his other hand. "I thought it could serve as a peace offering."

"So you're telling me if I pretend to be mad at you I'll get ice cream in the end?" Belén pretended to be dead serious at the moment.

"Uh…" Barry actually took a moment to think about the answer, which made Belén laugh and pull him inside.

"You should know I don't like sprinkles though," she informed him as she led them into the living room.

"Sprinkles? Really!?"

Belén nodded her head and disappeared into the kitchen for some glasses. "I'm weird okay!"

"Well you're definitely different," Barry admitted, though smiled. "You're the first person I know of who hid inside _refrigerators_ when they were a kid."

Belén returned holding two glasses with spoons inside. "I'm completely unique. So I guess Professor Stein and Ronnie left the city already?"

"Yeah, I told them your regards though."

"Oh thank you!" she called. "I wanted to come in but Linda had this article she wanted me to look over and I couldn't tell her no. Still, I do hope they find the help they need. I think they could become a really good partner. Like Nina!"

"I think they would get along," Barry laughed at the thought and sat down beside her on the couch.

"Listen, I was thinking about something," she set the glasses on the table next to the ice cream, "And, please don't think I was being nosy, but I think I have an idea."

"Let me hear it," Barry motioned, keenly listening.

Belén bit her lip, shifting to face him. She pulled her legs to sit cross-legged and took a deep breath in before starting. "You know how when the teacher gives you back a test you thought you did really good on but you end up getting a lot of questions wrong?" She looked at Barry for his reaction but he started making a face that spelled to her 'no'. She sarcastically groaned. "Oh, that's right, I forgot I was talking to the genius Barry Allen."

"I liked studying!" the metahuman in question said defensively.

"Mhm, nerd," Belén mumbled under her breath before continuing with her main point. "Anyways, some people - like me - did get a lot of questions wrong. My teacher would mark them up and then as a class we'd go over them so we knew how to get them right on the next test, like a study guide. So I was thinking...what if it's the same thing with you and this time travelling thing?"

"I'm...not following," Barry felt sorry to say after a minute.

"You said that there was this machine of Cisco's that showed you like...holograms of the night when your mom was...murdered. What if _that's_ your study guide? It's all the wrong questions marked for you."

Barry got to thinking of her idea and quickly realized that it made sense. If he used those holograms to see what exactly he did wrong that night, he would know what _not_ to do when it came time for him to travel back. "Bells...that's genius!" he exclaimed, making her beam excitedly. "I didn't think of it before! I was too focused on the fact that I got it wrong, I - how did you come up with this?"

"I got bored," she admitted innocently, making a face.

Barry felt like teasing again and leaned forwards. "And you started thinking of me?"

Belén immediately blushed. "Shut up."

Barry laughed for a minute then sobered up to thank her again. He reached to touch her face and smiled at her. "You know, it goes without saying but...I really like being able to do this."

"I like it too," Belén whispered. "But you know what I like just a bit more?"

"What?"

"Ice cream without sprinkles," Belén laughed at his reaction and set out to serve full glasses of strawberry ice cream for them.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Gosh I love these two dorks so much xD. But yay, we finally got to see Nina - and learn Cisco's name for her - in action. She's not going to be as involved for now as team Flash would hope for but she does come around when they really need her.

P.s I really liked writing out the date bit and...fun fact: _I'm_ the one who used to hide inside refrigerators as a kid. I used to take my hide-and-seek games very seriously *firmly nods*. So Belén gets to do the same now ;)

 **For the Reviews:**

 **GraceEllingson:** Thanks! I hope you liked the date bit! Like I said it was a lot of fun writing it especially since they never really had _moments_ together like this :)

 **Peaches:** Yes! Yes! Hope you liked it! :)


	19. Wild Girl

"You want me to...what?" Belén looked straight ahead at the STAR Labs training field in despair.

Beside her stood Barry, in his Flash suit with his hood off, who once again explained to her the motive of this visit. "You can't let your powers control you, Bells. It's quite simple actually. You-"

"Um, I believe the one that turns into a poisonous flower is _me_ , Barry. No flower powers, no opinion."

"Fair enough," Barry conceded with his hands held up. "You said that when you 'change' it was usually because of some radical emotion you were feeling at the time."

"Yeah, when I was mad or frustrated actually."

"But you never actually learned to control it?"

"Um...no, that would be a definite no."

"And that's why we're here today, to help you gain control."

Belén once again looked at the empty field before them. Barry told her no one from STAR Labs knew about their little visit and no one would know about future ones till she was ready to talk about her untapped powers.

"I don't...even know how," Belén crossed her arms self consciously.

"And that's why we're here," Barry took her arms and gently put them to her sides. "I'm not an expert, but I do have some training on my side okay?"

"Are you gonna shoot me like Oliver did with you?" she innocently asked.

Barry laughed and shook his head. "No, I promise I will not shoot you. I don't do that sort of training."

"...you promise?" Belén asked quietly, still overly guilty she'd let Oliver do that to him the last time he was in the city.

Barry smiled at her, still answering her despite thinking it was obvious those tactics weren't his style. He stepped closer to her, lowering his head a bit to touch noses. "You think I'd shoot my girlfriend?"

Belén blushed. She felt like a teenage girl honestly with all the heat in her face and the jolt her heart kept giving. It'd been a couple of days since their first date so they were still getting used to their new relationship. It involved a lot of blushing, shy touching and some kisses here and there.

"Maybe to get back at me for Oliver's arrow tricks?"

Barry lightly chuckled. "No, I'm getting him back later on. Now, c'mon, you can do it Miss Azalea."

"If you say so," she took in a breath to calm her nerves. "How...how do I even start?"

"We need to trigger it first of all, and once we have it, we need you to learn a way to hold it off until _you_ decide to change back."

"Oh, right, easy-peasy," Belén crossed her arms. "Except I told you it only happens when I get mad or frustrated."

"So then I just have to annoy you? I can do that," Barry grinned and took off without giving her a chance to ask what he had in mind.

She barely shifted her feet when a strong gust of wind pushed her backwards. She stumbled for a couple of seconds, blinking wide and fast, and then was hit with the same force. "Wait-" she nearly fell forwards but Barry returned again and made her do the opposite.

He went back and forth, truly irritating the hell out of her because she didn't have the opportunity to get her balance back.

"BAR-" but she whirled in her spot again. On one try, she actually fell to the ground. When her eyes snapped open, there was a new wildness sitting in them. A rapid scaly green crawled over her skin afterwards. "STOP!" she roared and jumped back on her feet.

Barry came to a skidded stop, stunned to see her change. Belén had narrowed eyes on him and without a warning shot a vine right at him that smacked him to the ground. With a groan, Barry opened his eyes to see the sky up above.

 _Well, at least it worked_ , he thought though he was sure there were some fine bruises forming on his back. Thank god for the super healing.

Belén started blowing her poison which, in her state, turned out to be stronger-packed with poison than thought. Barry got on his feet and coughed for a moment due to the poison. He started to run around her just like he usually would but this time Belén conjured up a a series of vines and spun on her feet to swing them at Barry. The speedster crashed straight into it and was thrown a great length away.

" _That one actually hurt_ , Barry pushed himself upright. He saw Belén was coming towards her with the same strange wild eyes and frankly, it did scare him a little knowing she wasn't in full control. He was sure, though, that with the right training, she would beat it. "Bells?" he called to her. "It's time to reel it back!"

But she kept coming.

"Belén?" he called louder as he stood up. "Belén, I know you can hear me! C'mon, take control!" She drew one arm back, getting ready to attack again. Barry hook his hand at her, frantically calling to her. "Belén! I'm not fighting you anymore, see!?"

She growled and fired boomerang-like bits of vines with _thorns_ all around them. Barry sped out of the way and came up from behind, ramming her to the ground. She gasped and Barry saw how quickly the scaly green vanished from her skin. Her usual warmth filled her eyes soon afterwards, signaling she was back.

"I'm sorry..." Barry apologized and got off her.

Belén groaned and rubbed the back of her head, groggily looking around. "I couldn't get back, could I?" Barry's face said it all. Belén sighed and covered her face with her hands. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, you just..." Barry pursed his lips and thought about it, "...kind of kicked my ass."

"Well if I'm gonna do that I'd rather do it as myself," Belén pushed herself up to her feet and fixed herself up. "This was a mistake."

"What? No! It wasn't-"

Belén raised an eyebrow at him, none too pleased he was trying to downgrade whatever she'd done. "I wasn't in control and if you hadn't knocked me down, I probably would've actually hurt you."

"Belén, c'mon," Barry walked up to her and took hold of her by the arms, "You've been suppressing this side of your powers so it's natural that they're gonna be harder to control but-"

Belén shrugged his arms off her and stepped back. "Then maybe it's best if I just leave them alone. Maybe if I let them stay inside they'll just...go away."

"I don't...I don't think it works that way," Barry hated the mortified look on her face.

"I don't want to hurt people," Belén whispered. "So maybe...maybe for now it's just best to leave things alone. I-I need to think..."

"Belén-"

But the woman shook her head, meaning the conversation was over. "We're done," her order was frail and quiet, but its finality stood out.

~ 0 ~

"Your brother hasn't been answering his damn phone," Angie told Maritza the moment the latter walked into Angie's apartment. "And for that matter, he hasn't been around for _days_."

Maritza would've liked to roll her eyes at Angie and tell her off for being so annoying but in this case...she happened to be right. Rayan was slowly getting...weird. She didn't know what it was - nor did Angie or Noah - but Rayan was acting differently. No longer was he all a genius put together. There were moments where he...spazzed out. He had mood swings, moods that he never really exhibited.

"I think we should try that warehouse," Angie's voice brought Maritza back to the present. "It's the only place where he could be."

Maritza agreed it was a good idea and so the two headed out of the apartment in search of Rayan.

~ 0 ~

Through his many problems, Barry could only manage so far to only add new ones. Rushing into the city's morgue caused him to collide with Singh, knocking over the man's drink over his new coat, and partially dropping the drink on Barry himself. After dozens of apologies, he moved over to Joe to discuss the newest crime scene left behind last night.

"What's with all the water?" Joe inquired, gesturing to the emergency sprinklers on the ceiling. "Did the sprinkler system go off or something?"

"No, I checked all the sprinklers. They're all intact. But look at this," Barry led him to where the coroner's corpse laid on the floor. He bent down beside it and, with some tweezers, picked what looked to be like a small particle of ice off the ground.

Joe titled his head, confused. "What is that, ice?"

"Mm-hmm." Barry then pushed the coroner's shirt to reveal purple bruises left on the stomach. "The coroner has multiple impact bruises on his torso, all the size of a tennis ball. Judging by the amount of ice and water on the ground, I'm guessing he was killed by hail."

Joe was even more lost. "Hail? In here?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think this was Snart?"

Barry straightened up and shook his head. "No, his cold-gun couldn't have done this."

Eddie moved over to the two holding a tape recorder. "Joe, we got something. The Coroner's office just installed an automated dictation system. Listen to this."

He played them the tape which revealed that Mark Clydon was alive and searching for the coo responsible for his brother's, Clyde, death. In the end, the coroner gave up the name that turned out to be Joe's.

Needless to say, Barry felt an extra layer of pressure to find this new metahuman quicker than normal.

~ 0 ~

Iris shuffled papers for one of Mason's stories, barely paying attention as she was busy looking around. She was pretty bored without her close friend in, so when she saw Barry coming in she perked up at the little distraction she would soon have. Leaving her papers on Mason's desk, she walked for him. But as she neared, she picked up on some odd, yet totally familiar, things in him.

The moment she got close enough to be heard without shouting, she voiced them. "Hmm," she crossed her arms, "That nervous face, the shifting, and the sole little Azalea in your hand could only mean one thing…" her lips widened with a teasing smile, "You had your first couple fight."

Barry saw no point in denying it. Sooner or later Belén would tell her something. "Something like that," he settled for.

Iris chuckled. "What was it? Week-a-versary? Oh! Or you-"

" _Iris_ ," Barry cut in sharply, "It's not the moment to be funny. I need to see Bells."

"Well I'm sorry to inform you but she's not here. She left early for dance practice."

"Damn," Barry mumbled.

"You know," Iris began, coming closer and letting her arms fall on her sides, "I could help you out."

"No offense, Iris, but I don't think you can…"

"Sure I can," Iris assured. "You just let me get her to a place and watch how things get sorted out." Barry gave her an unsure look, clearly preferring to do this on his own. Iris nudged him, pegging him on. "C'mon, I can help. Let me help. Pleeeease?"

Barry knew when he was at a loss, and against Iris West he was always at one. "Alright, fine."

Iris clapped and cheered, one main idea already forming in mind. "You won't regret it, I promise!" While she hugged him, Barry was still yet to feel so confident.

~ 0 ~

Maritza and Angie both walked into the warehouse they'd found ages ago to come around and practice their powers. It was the same one Rayan took an office for himself before coming to find Maritza and revealing he was alive.

"Rayan?" Maritza called as the women looked around. "You around?"

"Clearly not," Angie had walked into the office already. Maritza followed in a couple seconds later and found Angie gazing over a couple empty pill bottles on the desk. Angie picked one of them up and tilted her head. "These are headache pills. I bought some last week and they've all gone missing."

"My brother is not a pill abuser," Maritza warned Angie not to even go there. She came further inside and took a look at the state of the room. It was a mess, even for Rayan. "My brother is not okay..."

"You think?" Angie sarcastically gasped, making Maritza glare. "Oh c'mon, I'm not an idiot. Rayan's been...losing it, for a lack of a better word. I think it's your sister's fault."

"Belén did nothing," Maritza frowned. She was still fairly upset about Belén choosing the Flash over her family, but what Rayan was exhibiting had nothing to do with her actions. She suspected it was something biological that was hurting Rayan but up until now he hadn't shown anything besides headaches.

"Then where is he?" Angie gestured to the empty room.

Maritza went around the computer and pushed Angie out of the way so she could pull out a drawer. Rayan had a hidden laptop inside and so Maritza pulled it out to see what was inside. Unfortunately, he'd shattered the screen.

Angie's eyes widened. "Well, he's getting worse. Why do you think he would do that?"

Maritza decided not to answer. She put the laptop back inside the drawer and gazed at the papers over the desk. It appeared Rayan was taking notes for something. She grabbed a couple and skimmed some lines.

 _We're all losing. It's over. We must end it._

"Rayan...what the hell...?" Maritza lowered the papers and looked up at Angie, for the first time with honesty since they'd met. "We need to find him.

~ 0 ~

"I have never bowled a day in my life," Belén sighed as she and Iris walked down a bowling alley. She was only mildly interested in the place but she knew how much Iris loved the place so she just went with it.

"Easy win then," Iris rubbed her hands with a widened smirk.

Belén rolled her eyes. "I would think so. Why am I here again?"

But her answer did not come from Iris herself. She spotted Barry and Eddie halfway down and blamed herself for being so clueless this time. When she glanced at Iris the woman was cheekily smiling, turning and walking backwards to the guys.

"Iris West, one day...I will get a clue," Belén weakly pointed at her friends and followed after.

"Hey guys," Iris greeted, going straight to Eddie who was tying his bowling shoes on the couch.

"You are one sneak," Belén promptly accused Barry who'd gotten up from the other couch. Barry stuttered and somehow tried saying a sentence that involved apologizing. "I'm not mad with you, Barry, I hope you knew," she spoke quieter while Iris and Eddie got ready to bowl. "I'm mad with myself because...you know…"

Barry nodded, feeling relieved but not enough knowing she was still conflicted with herself. "You shouldn't be. Maybe I pushed you too far-"

"No, you didn't. I'm just...I don't know what to do," Belén admitted with a bitter chuckle. "I don't want to hurt anyone but the powers...they're _my_ powers and I should be able to use them."

"Exactly," Barry was glad to see her perspective had changed since the last time they saw each other. "And we can work on it. Everyday. I want to help you. Can I?"

Belén looked to the side. She felt she was being overly complicated but she couldn't see herself agreeing right there. She didn't feel...ready. "I need some time. I don't think I can jump back into that training again tomorrow. I can't."

Barry took his win where he could. It was a compromise in the end. He wouldn't push her but she wouldn't let it go.

"Hey?" Iris called, making both metas look at her. "We bowling or what?"

"I've never bowled in my life," Belén sighed to Barry.

"I can teach you," he said, now eager to play. He took Belén's hand and led her towards the other couple.

Iris cheered as they began to play. Barry took his first turn, and with Belén intently watching him, he made sure to take his best shot. He swung the bowling ball down the bowling lane and made a perfect strike. Gasping in awe, Belén clapped for him. In his excitement, Barry did a little dance of triumph that involved sliding his feet and waving his arms.

Belén laughed for him as he came back. "That was adorable," she commented while his face flushed.

"Yikes," Iris, too, was laughing from her spot with Eddie, the latter trying not to laugh, "Belén, it's not too late to switch for a nice cop."

"Oh, _thanks_ ," Barry sarcastically said, glancing at her sharply.

"Aw, I like scientists better," Belén shrugged, winking at Barry.

" _Thanks_ ," Eddie mimicked Barry's sarcasm.

Belén winced and sheepishly smiled at him. "No offence."

"Let's just let Bells take her turn," Iris offered. "I can help you if you want-"

"No you won't," Eddie yanked her back the steps she'd taken towards the other couple.

"What? Why?" Iris frowned.

Barry had taken Belén back to the bowling ball retrieving space. To answer Iris' question, Eddie pointed as the other pair moved for the bowling lanes. Barry placed his hand over Belén's hand that held the bowling ball. He instructed her how to bend and move her arm. Together, they moved in sync and swung the ball down the lane. Although it wasn't a perfect strike as Barry's had been, she still managed to knock eight out of the ten pins. Belén squealed in delight and whirled around, practically jumping on Barry and giving him a hug.

"That's why," Eddie told Iris.

She gasped and looked up at him. "Is that why you took me golfing? To hold me?" Eddie cheekily smiled and went for another bowling ball.

As the night progressed, Iris proved to be a better bowler as she and Eddie increased their scores. Midway through, Belén felt so bad she was causing their loss she told Barry it was better for him to go solo.

"That's no fun!" he shook his head, plopping down on the couch beside her. He reached for one of the french fries she had on her plate over her lap.

"You know, I'm making you lose," Belén said, making a face at Iris who'd taken a seat on the other couch. "And I gotta be honest, I'd feel a little less guilty if _someone_ -" Iris looked up with a wide smirk, "-didn't tease you about it."

"Good going Iris, you're making my girlfriend feel bad," Barry shot her a sarcastic look. Belén whacked his arm, making him laugh. He only stopped when he caught Belén yawning behind her hand. "You tired?"

"A little. I was up early today," she nodded.

"Maybe we should call it a night, then," he looked back at Iris and Eddie as he came back with a soda in hand.

"I'm sorry," Belén apologized as she left her plate on the middle table and got up with Barry.

"Don't worry about it," Iris waved it off. "I'm just glad you two are fine again. Whatever it was you were fighting about…"

Barry and Belén exchanged looks, both agreeing not to touch that subject right now. Barry ushered her towards the counter where they would switch in their bowling shoes for their regular shoes. Denying Iris and Eddie's offer for a lift, they headed on their own towards Belén's home.

"This was oddly fun," Belén said as they watched Iris and Eddie drive away.

"Oddly?" Barry quickly looked at her, suddenly afraid their fight was still an ongoing thing.

"I'm not exactly the sports girl," Belén gestured to herself with a light chuckle. "I don't like them very much."

"To be honest this is probably the only sport I was ever good at," Barry shrugged, "In case you were hoping you scored yourself a sporty boyfriend…"

"I'm happy with who I'm with," Belén reached for his hand. "My singing scientist."

"We're never letting that go, are we?" Barry laughed and shook his head.

"Nope! I've still got the video on my phone," and Belén could promise him right there and then that the video would _always_ be there with him.

Barry brought them to Belén's front porch and with one glance at the driveway Belén concluded that her sister wasn't home.

"I wonder where the hell Maritza went," she thought out loud as she began to check for the lights from the living room window. "She's teaching tomorrow in the morning. And Axel..."

"It's eleven..." Barry said after checking his phone for the time. "Aren't four year olds supposed to be sleeping by now...?"

"Mhm," Belén was now checking her phone as well. She found one text message from Maritza sent over an hour ago saying Axel was left with their neighbor, Mrs. Andrews, and was waiting for Belén herself to go pick him up. "Oh my God!" Belén's eyes widened in alarm. "I should've picked him an hour ago!"

"Well, it's not like it's far," Barry reminded Belén the house was literally just across the street from them.

"Funny," Belén playfully rolled her eyes. "I need to go get him. Hopefully Mrs. Andrews is still awake."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, that's fine. You have work in the morning too, I remember," Belén wagged a finger at him. "But thanks for offering."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, then?" Barry reached for her hand, gently stroking small circles over the back of her hand. "If...you want...?"

Belén chuckled. "I want. Definitely want." She leaned forwards and kissed him goodnight, something that left them both blushing.

From there, the two split. Belén had an interesting time trying to figure out where it was her sister had gone to. Axel didn't even seem to know, and much less Mrs. Andrews.

~ 0 ~

Mark Mardon would have expected anything nowadays, but his hideout's door flinging off its hinges was not one of them. A man in black and grey leather walked in with a complete straight face. His brunette strands seemed about the only messy thing about him.

"You have got to clean up," Rayan remarked like this was just going to be a casual greet and meet.

"Who the hell are you?" Mardon stood up, hands extended to threaten them.

"Put the hands down please, it's gonna be a waste of time if we fight first then talk," Rayan walked in, looking around the cluttered and dirty apartment.

"Why would I talk with you?"

"Because we essentially want the same things," Rayan stopped on a side, hands behind his back.

"I doubt that," Mardon snapped, bur Rayan remained at ease.

"Your brother died because of an officer and the Flash. More importantly, he died because of that Particle Accelerator. It's only fair we take them out in retaliation."

"I want bigger," Mardon clarified his intentions.

"Course you do, and on that I believe we differ but if we work together we can take it all down. I, personally, want the Flash but I'm willing to compromise."

Mardon scowled at the man. "I don't need any help!"

"If you would-"

"I said _no!_ _"_ Mardon practically screamed his powers off but Rayan deflected any potential threatening away from his body.

Telekinesis was by far the superior metahuman power, he thought. He also felt smarter, incredibly smarter than your average human. "I feel like you still wanna try your own luck against the officer. Do it. And when it fails, I'll be back to discuss how we can work together." Before he left, though, he made sure to leave behind a way to be in contact. He was sure Mardon would come around eventually.

~ 0 ~

"Hellooooo?"

Cisco looked up from a half-finished metal wand-looking device. He beamed at the second call for someone.

"Cisco! Boom!"

"Sweet!" Cisco laughed as he turned on his chair to greet Belén and Axel. "Axel! Welcome back!"

"You are not in charge of him anymore," Belén warned as Axel ran up to the empty chair beside Cisco.

"What are we going to make today, Cisco?" Axel pushed his chair closer to Cisco's, eager to see what was on Cisco's computer screen.

"Uh, you are going to make _nothing_ ," Belén warned them both before they got any ideas. Maritza entrusted her to watch Axel and that's what she would do. After getting back late last night, Maritza asked Belén if she could look after Axel for the day while she went off to work. Mrs. Andrews had other plans for the day and since Belén had the day off...it was all set.

"We are," Axel whispered to Cisco, though not as quiet as he thought because Belén was warning Cisco with a glare not to even try it.

"So...you want to check something cool out?" Cisco gestured to his computer screen.

"Always," Belén moved around to Cisco's other side since Axel was already leaning forwards on the right.

"I remembered the laat time we had a run-in with Mardon, Clyde Mardon-"

"Em - you mean that period in which you all decided I shouldn't know anything about metahumans?"

"Let bygones be bygones, Belén," Cisco said in a rushed manner, wincing at Belén's 'Mhm' in return. "I was tinkering with something to help attract unbound atmospheric electrons."

"I speak English, not nerd."

"Well Barry understood it."

"Mm, I rest my case," Belén patted Cisco's shoulder.

Cisco looked up at her, obviously offended. "For real?" Belén just shrugged in response. Cisco shook his head and continued to explain. "Basically, this thing would work like a sponge and suck up all of the particles in the air that allows Mardon to control the weather."

"Oh, that sounds good," Belén smiled at his excitement.

"Yeah it does!"

"Yeah!" Axel repeated in the same excited voice Cisco had even though he knew the boy didn't have a clue about the conversation. He decided to instead give Axel a live show by creating a new weapon that would win them the fight against Mardon.

At some point, Belén heard her phone vibrate from her purse and went to answer it. It was a text from Iris, and its content was...alarming. She quickly forgone the text to dial Iris instead. She motioned Cisco to keep an eye on Axel while she talked out in the hallway. "Iris, what is this nonsense?"

"Well, you tell me," Iris countered. "Mason showed me some pictures-"

"Iris I thought we discussed this - Mason is an idiot. You shouldn't even be following his so called 'lead'."

Iris thought she should point out that if she - Belén - had the confidence in her to tell her what exactly went on with STAR Labs and its workers, she wouldn't be following Mason's lead at all. But instead, Belén kept it all quiet. "I just wanted to know what was really going on with Dr. Wells and-"

"There's nothing, Iris," Belén sighed, rubbing a hand over her temple. "There's no story - I should know."

' _Yeah, you should_ ,' Iris thought rather bitterly.

"Bells?" Barry's voice made the ombre-blonde jump on her spot.

Quickly hanging up - much to Iris' irritation - she turned around. "H-hi, Barry," she greeted, hoping to God he hadn't heard anything, especially Iris' name.

"What did Iris want?"

 _Dammit,_ Belén gritted her teeth behind her closed lips. "Just...work stuff," she began her weak explanation.

"Why are you holding your phone like that?" Barry inquired after noticing she was practically clutching her phone to her chest.

"Hmm?" Belén looked down at her hands and quickly moved them to her sides. "No reason, just...stressed. What are you doing back?" she decided it was best to slowly lead him into the cortex to prevent any other questions.

"There was an incident with Mardon. He tried attacking Joe and I earlier."

"Is Joe alright!?"

"He's fine, but he's confined to the station now so...Cisco?" Barry gave a call, making Cisco look up from Axel. "How are we doing with the, uh…?"

"Wizard wand!" Cisco exclaimed, causing Axel to giggle and wave his finger at Barry and Belén.

"Like Harry Potter!"

"Uh, no, he has a _wand_ ," Cisco reminded him and pushed Axel's finger don.

"K, see that's why I don't want you in charge of my nephew," Belén crossed her arms and shook her head at Cisco.

"How does it work?" Barry asked after struggling not to laugh.

"Think of it like an active lightning rod," Cisco said and got up from his chair. "You just point it at the sky, and it'll suck up whatever energy's floating around it like a sponge."

"And it'll stop Mardon?"

"At the very least slow him down," Cisco pointed at her with the wand. "If there's no atmospheric electrons available to him, there's no way for him to control the weather."

"Sounds great," Belén laughed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go get this to the station and explain how it works for Joe," Cisco said, understanding the situation was even worse there. "Bye Axel, and remember? Sonic?"

Axel happily threw his arms in the air. "Boom!"

"CISCO!" Belén shouted but Cisco had already dashed for the exit. Barry had to laugh himself as he turned back for the desk. Belén decided to leave that behind to focus on something a little more important. "Um...would it be wrong to ask of you like a big big favor when we're like barely starting to date?"

"Well, considering we've been friends for months more, I think it should be fine," Barry tried to humor her. He was no fool - he knew Belén was trying to hide something.

"I have to go into work just for a bit - tiny bit of a second - like a quarter really, well not exactly, it'd be more but you probably got the jist-"

Barry surprised her by planting a kiss on her that lasted well over a minute. They missed the quiet "yuck" Axel uttered while he got into some drawings on the desk.

"U-uh...w-w-what, what...was that...for?" Belén blinked pretty fast afterwards, trying to catch her breath.

"Just...thought it would be nice," Barry crookedly smiled, although now he was becoming self-conscious about what he had just done. "But, maybe now...that I think about it...it might have not been the best way, to, um...to interject…"

"N-n-no, that...was excellent," Belén flushed bright red, "I mean...feel free to do that again...yeah, anytime."

Barry laughed, slowly returning to normal. "Alright, so, this favor...what was it exactly?"

"Right," Belén sucked in a breath. "Um, I just really need to go back to CC Pictures to talk to someone. Can you take care of Axel for a bit?"

"Yeah, no problem. Want a lift?"

"I...don't...I really need to do this on my own," Belén warned, knowing Barry's persistence in helping others.

"Then I stay outside with Axel," Barry compromised after getting the sense this was something more complex than just a simple pop back into the workplace.

"There's no way you're letting me go out on my own are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine," Belén went to grab her purse off the desk. "Axel? Come here, please."

Axel obediently went to his aunt. "Are we going to go help Cisco?"

"No, you're going to stay with Barry for a tiny bit, okay?" Belén explained to him what would happen in the next couple of minutes.

Axel glanced at Barry for a second. "Can you make a wand like Harry Potter?"

"I can make a cooler one," Barry easily replied to, earning himself a big grin from the boy.

It was all he needed to have Axel's comfort and trust. So, he took hold of Belén and Axel and in a second he had them inches from the CC Pictures. After pleading Barry for him to stay in his spot with Axel, Belén went inside the place. First thing she did was locate Mason. It wasn't difficult catching him on a coffee break at the snack table.

"Mason?" she called while making a straight beeline for the man. "We need to talk."

Mason took a short sip from his coffee mug. "Isn't it your day off today?"

"Why the hell did you insist on the stupid STAR Labs story with Iris when I specifically told you there was nothing more!?"

"Because I didn't believe you? I thought that was self-explanatory?" Mason arched one eyebrow.

Belén was in no mood to entertain his common sarcasm. "You listen to me right now you overbearing-" she began jabbing her finger on his chest, "-self-righteous man, you better leave my friend Iris out of this ridiculous story. Stop putting ideas in her head!"

"I think-"

"I don't give a damn about what you think!" she snapped. "You will stop, or I will come back and make you wish I never even entered this place."

"Such determination," Mason's observation didn't make Belén falter. This wasn't a game for her - it meant Iris' credibility as well as safety from any potential crazies who took her words seriously.

"You've been warned," Belén turned on her heels and strode out of the place without so much of a glance.

True to his word, Barry had remained outside caring for Axel. When he saw Belén coming towards them it wasn't difficult to see something had changed in her. "What's wrong?" He went for the direct question.

"Nothing, you wanna walk instead?" Belén went past him into a hasty walk.

"U-uh, sure," Barry hurried a little to catch up with her.

"I want Jitters."

"Okay," Barry tried leaning forwards to see her face, "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, no," Belén shook her head. "But don't worry about it I'm taking care of it!"

"Really?" Barry was now eyeing her balled up fist in her jacket pocket. He stopped and abruptly grabbed her by the same arm, revealing a mildly emerald green fist. "Because it doesn't look like it." Belén was staring at her hand with terrified wide eyes. Gently lowering it while also covering it with his own, Barry made a step closer to her and tried to understand again. "I want to help, so tell me how to help."

Swallowing hard, Belén stuffed her hand back in her pocket. "It's Mason again. He's...he has this crazy idea that there's something suspicious going on with Dr. Wells. And he doesn't stop there, oh no, he now has Iris asking questions."

"What?" Barry frowned. "What could he possibly have against Dr. Wells?"

"I don't know!" Belén exclaimed. "He knows what happened to Simon Stagg. Apparently, nobody's heard from him or seen him since the night you stopped Danton Black."

"Okay…"

"But he's wrong, God everything is so wrong! And I'm trying to make things better but it just doesn't seem to want to be fixed!"

Barry quickly wrapped her into a hug - along with the help of Axel - and kissed her hair. "You shouldn't leave all this for yourself, Bells. I can help you - I _want_ to help you."

"Then please help me because I don't know what else to do," Belén admitted.

"Of course," Barry barely got the two words before he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He saw the text message urging him to get to the police station. "I gotta go," he said to Belén who didn't need further explanation than his facial expression. With a kiss on her cheek he was out of the street in a second.

Belén resorted to making her way back to STAR Labs on foot as she had originally planned minutes ago - though stopping first by Jitters. By the time she got back to the building, she heard from Cisco and Caitlin about the terrible thing that happened back at the station involving Barry's boss - Captain Singh - landing in the hospital thanks to Mardon.

"I should have been there to help," Belén couldn't help blame herself after hearing the story. She was looking at Axel who'd taken interest in drawing on a lone paper Caitlin supplied for him along with a pencil. He was deadset on a new Harry Potter wand.

"Where were you anyways?" Cisco curiously asked, but upon receiving a sharp look from Caitlin he quickly added, "I mean, just...just out of curiosity...though if it was some date with Barry I would rather not hear it."

Belén laughed and shook her head. "It wasn't that, honestly. It's...well...I know Barry is going to tell both of you at some point so might as well get over it. One of my co-workers thinks there's something weird going on with Dr. Wells."

"Weird as in how?" Caitlin crossed her arms, trying to understand.

"Like, he's not who he says he is or...I don't know, maybe he's hiding something?" Belén shrugged, thinking it even more ridiculous with each time she said it out loud.

"That can't be," Caitlin scoffed and went back to the desk. Cisco, meanwhile, became silently pensive. "Dr. Wells is a fantastic man."

"I think it just might be a gruge from the accident with the accelerator," Belén admitted. "But I just don't like the fact that this co-worker is bringing Iris into it."

"I'm sure everything will work out fine," Caitlin sent her a reassuring smile.

"I guess," Belén sighed and started gathering her things. "Anyways, I think I'll be heading home. Hopefully everything works out for Barry's boss. Keep me posted okay?"

"Yeah, goodnight," Caitlin said, watching the woman pick up her nephew.

"Goodnight," Cisco mumbled and also watched Belén leave.

Caitlin was shutting off one of the computers when she noticed Cisco's extra-pensive demeanor. "Cisco, you okay?"

"Honestly, no, Bells is making me think about Dr. Wells' true persona…"

"What?" frowned Caitlin. "You don't actually think what her co-worker says is true do you?"

"No, no, it's more than that. Joe said that maybe Dr. Wells was somehow involved in of Barry's Mother's death and her murder."

Caitlin wondered how many idiotic things she would be hearing about Wells that night. "That's absurd."

"Yeah, I know, and that's what I said, and we proved that that wasn't the case, but I'm just saying, some things aren't adding up."

"Like what, for example?"

Cisco motioned for Caitlin to follow him into one of the side rooms. "Come here, look at this." He stopped in front of another computer and typed away. "The night we trapped the Reverse-Flash in the force-field, he escaped because the containment system failed, but I checked that data three times, and the super-capacitors were still fully charged when he got out. The numbers don't add up, Caitlin. There's no reason that the containment system should have failed."

Caitlin could understand his confusion but to say that Wells had something to do with it was beyond ridiculous. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation."

"One perfectly good explanation is that Wells did something to the trap."

"Are you suggesting that Dr. Wells is in league with The Man in the Yellow Suit? I'm... We all saw that thing nearly kill him that night."

"Yeah, nearly…"

"Cisco, what you're saying doesn't make any sense. That's crazy."

Cisco turned to Caitlin, very serious, and asked, "Can you keep Wells out of STAR Labs tomorrow morning?"

~ 0 ~

"You went to _who_?" Angie's high-itched voice filled the apartment without even trying.

Rayan popped in another headache pill and motioned her to wait. After quickly swallowing it without water, he repeated his story again. "I went to Mardon - the new meta that's causing trouble. I knew he was probably going on a hunt for the West detective and-"

"-you thought you would just strike a deal?" Noah was just as confused as Angie. "What for? I thought we decided not to bring anymore in? It's a nuisance-"

"-tell me about it," Rayan still eyed the man with regret for Maritza's choice of bringing him in. "New recruits tend to be useless."

Noah ignored the insult and got back to business. "So what the hell did you even see this guy for? Gonna cause a big storm over the city?"

"I went back because I saw an opportunity to get to the Flash," Rayan got up from the couch. "I want to know who he is." Noah exchanged a confused glance with Angie.

"What for?" Angie was dumb enough to ask out loud.

"Because I want to know who the hell managed to get my sister to leave her family!" Rayan's shout made her flinch.

Noah rolled his eyes. _She had to ask_. "Who cares who's behind the mask," he said. "I say we just start taking whatever we want."

Angie perked up at that idea. "I can get behind that!"

"NO!" Rayan once again screamed and this time he caused a portrait hanging behind Angie to crash straight on the floor.

The blonde woman growled as she saw her graduation frame all broken. "STOP DOING THAT!"

Rayan flung his hands to the side and threw both metas to the ground, using his telekinesis to pin them there. "Let me get this straight for you," his voice was dark and final, "I'm going to find out who the Flash is, and when I do I'm gonna kill him. And maybe then my sister will reconsider her life choices."

Despite their attempts to get off the grounds, Angie and Noah found themselves stuck there until Rayan felt otherwise. Still, they could both see a small trickle of blood oozing from Rayan's nose.

~ 0 ~

 _Knock, knock,_ went the door of the West residence. Instead of being received by Iris, Belén was received by none other than her new boyfriend. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she tilted her head in confusion but nonetheless allowed Barry to take her bag and let her inside.

"Slow work day," he said cheery.

Belén hummed in thought and spotted Iris coming out of the kitchen, apparently ending a phone call.

"I can't get my dad to answer," she frowned, leaving her phone on the coffee table. "Hey Bells, what's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Belén said politely.

"Right now?" Iris made a face. "I don't get into work for another two hours. Barry and I were about to get lunch if you wanted to…"

"No, I want to do it here away from all things Mason," Belén said sharply, letting her know what the subject was going to be about.

"Oh…" Iris' eyes flickered from Barry to Belén, wondering which one would be lying to her face today.

"I don't know what he's been telling you but you can't listen to him," began Belén.

"I don't know what's real and what's not, but all I know is that he's got some sort of big article coming out about Dr. Wells," Iris shrugged.

This was new information to both Belén and Barry.

"What kind of article?" asked Barry.

"The sort that exposes him I would say?"

"This is the kind of crap that I'm talking about," Belén slapped a hand to her forehead. "He's gone berserk."

"Look I don't know what he's got written for that article but I can guarantee that I had no part in it." With that clarified, Iris picked up her phone from the coffee table and made a gesture she would be upstairs getting ready for work.

"I tried," Barry began with Belén about the whole ordeal with Mason, "But she keeeps giving me the same responses."

"You think she's not believing in us anymore?" Belén worried they would begin to lose the trust Iris had for them if they kept up all this secrecy.

"I hope not," Barry, too, was also thinking the same thing.

"I guess that's it for me here then," Belén sighed, shaking her head. "I thought I could make a difference but I guess I was just wrong."

"No, c'mon, wait up," Barry grabbed her arm and gently turned her around. "If Iris wants to believe something then we can't force her to change it, and we can't blame ourselves for it either."

"It's our job to protect those we love and right now I feel like Iris is going to get herself into trouble. Remember what happened with that blog of hers?"

"I know," Barry agreed with the gravity of the situation. "But we can't stop it. I mean, the best we can do is just keep an eye on Iris. We won't let any harm come her way. I promise."

Belén fully trusted him, and she trusted herself to be strong enough in case Iris ever needed them.

~ 0 ~

News spread fast about Joe West's abduction, and while Iris was distraught she knew Eddie was doing all that he could to bring her father back. However, things grew worse when she received a call from Mardon himself asking her to come to the waterfront on her own. She wouldn't be alone, she was promised by Barry and Belén who'd been with her at the time. They figured if things came to worst, one of them - most likely Barry - would be able to sneak off to fight as the Flash while Belén stayed with Iris to make sure she was alright.

Before heading off they tried contacting someone at STAR Labs for backup, but no one answered...which was weird for them. But for time's sake they didn't dwell on it. If they had known that Cisco was facing the Reverse Flash himself, revealed to be Wells, perhaps they would have given it a bit more consideration. By the time the trio reached the waterfront, the sky was darkening with rumbling thunder. Immediately, they knew who was behind it.

"Oh my God," Iris was terrified by the sight. She could see in the distance a faint gray boat in the oceon where her father was surely hostage.

"Barry I think we might need to do that disclosure now..." Belén mumbled to him.

Barry agreed with a sigh. He glanced at Iris, sadly, and wondered why it had to be like this. "I'm sorry," he told her before speeding off.

Iris' mouth gaped open and she pointed in the direction he went off in. There weren't words at the moment that she could use.

Belén turned around to her, placing her hands on Iris' shoulders. "And _breeeathe_ , please. Listen Iris this isn't exactly how either of us wanted you to know but…"

"He's the Flash, isn't he?" Iris sucked in a breathe, her eyes flickering from one side to the other.

"Yes, and the only reason we didn't tell you was because..." but she trailed off when she saw a park bench coming directly at them. "DUCK!" she pulled Iris down in time.

Iris winched as the park bench crashed into pieces not too far from them. "What just happened!?"

Belén quickly got back on her feet and spotted the culprit. She gulped. "Iris, you have to leave..."

"What? But I want to know what's going on!" Iris searched for the culprit as well and figured it had to be the man across them who was coming towards them. "Who's that? Enemy of _Barry's_?" the sharpness in her tone didn't go unnoticed by Belén. She was mad. Mad as hell.

"No...that...that would be my brother," Belén stepped forwards, hands forming into fists.

Iris' eyes widened in alarm. "But...but he's-"

"Crazy, by the looks of it," Belén inwardly sighed. What had her brother come to now? She took another step forwards and raised her hands. "Rayan, whatever you want-"

"It's time to _go_!" Rayan didn't waste time in openings nor chit-chat. He knew exactly what Mardon was going to do and he needed to get his sister out of there at once.

"Go? Go where!?"

"Away from here, to safety," Rayan calmly stopped a couple feet away from her. "She-" he nodded to Iris, "-is not welcomed."

"How is he still alive?" the indicated woman asked.

"I murdered my captors," Rayan said plainly then returned his attention to Belén. "You coming the easy way or not?"

Belén raised an eyebrow. "You're threatening me now? Is that what we've really come to, Rayan? Seriously?"

"I'm looking for your safety, Belén. I've already warned Maritza and she's getting Axel out of here but-"

"-you've talked to Maritza!?" Belén wondered how that went for her poor sister.

"Let's go," Rayan motioned Belén to come walking towards him but Belén shook her head. "Belén, _let's go_."

"No, we've got to help these people," Belén glanced back at the water, which was building up into what looked like would be a tsunami. "That's going to take out the city-"

"-which is why we need to leave _now_ -"

"RAYAN!" Belén suddenly screamed, trickles of scaly green going down her cheeks. "Listen to me, dammit! We need to help!"

Rayan balled his fists now, eyes closing for a second. He felt that pain in his head begin to increase. "I don't have time, Belén. I really don't. Let's-"

Belén saw this was going to be a useless argument so she decided to focus on the more important factors around them. "Iris, leave this place. Just...go to STAR Labs. I'll try to help-"

Rayan rolled his eyes and made a motion with his finger for something to come over. Broken metal legs of the park bench he threw at them earlier now shot towards them again. Iris gasped and shut her eyes, expecting to feel the immense pain at any moment. Instead, Belén swung an arm to the side and captured the bench pieces with a vine that wrapped around each piece.

Now furious, she turned on her brother. "GET OUT!"

Rayan was surprised to find the scaly green all over Belén, and even more so when she _retaliated_ against him. Lasso vines tried to capture him so he jumped back a couple steps - a decent distance - and in that time Belén once again urged Iris to get away from them. Not wanting to be a liability for her friend, Iris decided to head over to STAR Labs.

Rayan telekinetically caught the lasso vines, leaving Belén to continuously try to pull them out of his pool of energy. "Amazing, you worry about everyone except your family," Rayan said.

"Are you kidding me!?" Belén openly shouted at him. "You've attacked people - you just tried to hurt someone _you_ knew! You are not the brother I used to have! You're just like any other metahuman the Flash and I catch." She left the vines and conjured up new ones. She swung them like boomerangs at her Rayan but he would deflect them with his fingers.

Belén could hear the pandemonium around them as the waters behind grew bigger and got closer to the city. In one of her distractions, Rayan actually threw her an empty baby stroller and knocked her closer to the ledge. As she got up, she saw Barry, as the Flash, zipping around the coastline over and over.

"If I have to take you unconsciously then I will!" Rayan's warning pulled her back into her fight.

"Try me," she said with no hope of making up after this. She charged on back towards him with every intention of defeating him and putting him away in the pipeline like she once promised.

Thanks to a quick chat with Caitlin, Barry was intending on creating a 'vortex barrier' along the coastline to stop the tsunami. It was the only way to keep everyone safe, he just hoped he was fast enough. On each round that Barry made along the coastline he could see brief glances of Belén trying to strike a man he hadn't seen before. He couldn't figure out who it was, but it looked like the fight was heated.

 _I need to finish to help her_ , he pushed himself harder to keep going.

Belén was too enraged with her brother to realize she was losing herself again. The wildness was coursing through her, giving her an extra layer of strength against Rayan. Thorn-covered vines stabbed Rayan's chest and one of his palms. As he screamed, she lunged onto him, tackling him to the ground.

But somehow, it all vanished. Everything from Barry's eyes began to disappear. There was a loud, eerie noise that filled his ears and the next thing he knew he was running under a dark Central City street. He came to an abrupt stop in a familiar intersection and looked around.

He saw the same woman calling for a taxi as he did the previous night. He saw the dog owners, the running man on his cellphone...everything.

Where was he? _When_ was he?

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And hellooooo I am back! I know it took me quite a while to update again and I just have to say it was a tough semester to get through! It was my final one so I had to make sure everything was done right so that I could graduate - which I did last week ;). Plus after that it became birthday weekend for me and my brother so things just got even more hectic! But now that it's over, I'm getting more time to write again!

These siblings of Belén would drive me crazy if they were mine xD. And what about Belén's powers? It's a tricky power source she's using - as the Azalea is indeed poisonous and dangerous - so she'll have some controlling practices to do!

 **For the Reviews:**

 **LadyRedStar** : I know I'm totally biased for being the author but I really think they're cute together too lmao. And yeah, I hate the General too. Never liked him before and probably never will .

 **GraceEllingson:** Thank you so much! And I know, I love writing fluff moments like these too! Thanks! I like writing the pre-developing stages leading into the actual couple, they're always so much fun xD. Hoped you liked the new chapter!

 **Guest** : Aww, thanks! And I hope you liked the chapter too! :)


	20. My Rogue Family

Belén and Cisco sat opposite on a Jitters table having themselves a small coffee break. However, Cisco had yet to allow Belén to speak a word because he was busy venting about his older brother. Belén didn't tell him anything, she understood his case - she lived it...sort of. She would rather not think about her rogue brother anymore.

"And I really don't wanna go," Cisco finished with a big breath.

Belén pursed her lips after taking a sip of her coffee and placed down her mug. "Cisco, he's your brother-"

"-not by choice."

"Okay," Belén chuckled, "Well, how bad can a birthday party be? It's got cake and food. And your _family_."

"Um, my folks think Dante's stink don't stink. Doesn't matter how much he screws up, or how many times he gets into trouble. In their eyes, he can do no wrong. And yet, they never fail to remind me that I can do no right."

"Okay," Belén tried again, motioning with her hands she had another idea. "What if I came with you?"

"What? Seriously?" Cisco eyed her suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'd love to. I thought maybe Barry was going to ask me if we wanted to go out, but I hear there's a new case that involves a meta so-" Belén did a cutting motion across her neck, "-there dies that plan."

"And you don't think Barry would mind if we…?" Cisco pointed at himself and her.

"Last time I checked Barry was my boyfriend not my owner," Belén smiled playfully. "He knows your one of my best friends-"

"That's _all_ he knows," Cisco reminded. "Because everyone else around here knows about our little date-"

"That didn't even turn into nothing," Belén also reminded him. "No one has to mention anything about that."

"Alright…"

"Then we can go at whatever time you want. I wanna see if I can get a look at old family photo albums and see what little Cisco looks like without long hair."

Cisco put down his mug with a rather loud clank on the table. Belén tried not to laugh again as he dead seriously said to her, "I'm rescinding your invite."

~ 0 ~

Barry found himself living the previous day again. He had no idea how it happened, he just knew it was _happening_. He _time traveled!_ He actually time traveled by _accident_!

Here he was now, examining - yet again - the coroner's dead body on the ground, finding the same exact injuries on the same exact spots. He even knew the recording of the coroner and the Mardon brother. It was all too unbearable to deal on his own and yet...he wasn't sure if he should mention it to anyone. His studies never focused on time traveling but he was pretty sure spilling the future would be a big no.

"Hey Barry, we got the text," Belén's greeting pulled him back to the present. She and Cisco were the last to arrive at STAR Labs so they could now begin their investigation on their new meta.

"Clyde Mardon has a brother?" Caitlin said in shock as Barry pulled up the information profile of Mark Mardon on one of the computer wall screens.

"So, both Mardon brothers survived the plane crash and then the dark matter released by the Particle Accelerator explosion affects them both in…" Wells had begun but Barry, remembering it all, finished with him.

"...virtually the same way."

Wells eyed him for a moment. "That's right."

"Only Mark's not like Clyde at all. He can do things that you couldn't even imagine," Barry explained.

Cisco lowered his slushie in excitement, "You mean he's sort of like a-"

"-weather wizard?" Barry finished for him as well, attracting the attention of Wells again.

"Weather wizard?" Cisco tested the name out before nodding. "Yeah."

"Oh, Cisco you might not wanna do that or you'll-" Belén had tried to warn him not to slurp so fast but Cisco had already gone and done it.

" _Ow_!"

"Trigeminal headache?" Caitlin meant to ask on her own but Barry had done it with her as well.

This was enough to put Dr. Wells on edge. "Mr. Allen, a word please?" he started going for the corridors, expecting to Barry to follow. As soon as the two were a safe distance from the cortex, he said what he realized. "You ruptured the time continuum, didn't you? You're experiencing temporal reversion."

Barry wasn't the least bit surprised Wells had figured it out. "Yeah!"

"How long?"

"Uh, a day and some change. It's like I'm living it all over again."

"Yeah, well that's good. That means there's not too much you could've messed up yet. How did this happen?"

Barry thought back to the moment where he tried stopping the tsunami and shook his head. "I... I don't know. I mean, I was running faster than I've ever ran, and the first time that I lived this day some really horrible things happened. There was a tidal wave and…"

"No," Wells stuck a hand to stop him. "Do not tell me. I do not want to know anything about the future you experienced. Nothing!"

"Okay, but Dr. Wells, I…"

"Barry. Time... is an extremely fragile construct. Any deviation, no matter how small, could result in a cataclysm. Now here's what you're going to do. Everything you did before. Every word you uttered, every step you took, you're going to do again. And you're not going to tell anyone this happened."

Barry didn't think there was much more to discuss so he nodded his head and went with it. When he came back for Belén, he found she was already making a move to leave.

"I didn't think you would need me here," she sheepishly said after seeing the face he was making.

"I wanted to ask...um...you wanna go out tonight?" Barry personally didn't wanna relive any part of the day...except for the parts where Belén was involved.

"Oh, I wish you would've asked earlier," Belén scrunched her face. "I made plans with Cisco."

"With Cisco?"

"Yeah, see, he's having trouble with his brother and I thought I'd go for like moral support, you know? I think I know a thing or two about problems with a brother."

"Yeah," Barry agreed there. "Alright, well, you gotta fit me in tomorrow night then."

"I think I can do that," Belén tilted her thought, pretending to think about it. "Though I do have dance practice…"

"No," Barry pointed at her warningly, "I want a date."

Belén raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you might have to wait."

"I waited enough time to be able to date you - I've done my time," Barry crossed his arms, huffing for show.

Belén laughed at him so loud even Caitlin and Cisco poked their heads out from a side room. Barry took her into a hug to hopefully muffle her laughter, but he whispered "it's not that funny" about three times, only making Belén laugh even more.

~ 0 ~

When Barry returned to the CCPD he found Singh was once again having the conversation of Joe staying in the CCPPD with Joe himself and Eddie. Barry couldn't help remember the accident Singh was supposed to be having later tonight.

"Hey," Joe snapped him out from his thoughts. "What's going on with you? How'd you figure all that stuff out at the morgue?"

"Lucky guesses...I guess," Barry cleared his throat.

"Look, I'm telling you, I'm gonna get Mardon if it kills me," Joe determinedly said.

In that moment Barry remembered the car explosion accident they were going to have in the same hour and how close Joe had been. He couldn't let that happen, much less of what was going to happen tomorrow if he let Mardon continue to be free. There was Joe primarily, and then the tidal wave heading for the city, not to mention Iris learning of his and Belén's identities...and then there was Belén, who'd ended up fighting with some stranger.

None of that could happen again.

"Joe, um...I gotta run an errand," he quickly made up as he began backtracking, "I'll see you later. All right?" He didn't exactly give Joe the opportunity to ask what errands before he left the place.

In about ten minutes Barry had successfully found Mardon's hideout and brought him to the pipeline in STAR Labs.

Mardon was furious at his new situation. From within his new prison he screamed, "I'm gonna break out of here! I'm gonna create a tidal wave that destroys your entire city!"

"So, I still don't understand. How did you find him?" Cisco asked Barry after closing down the pipeline.

Barry turned around, dropping the hood of his suit. "I just had a hunch."

"That's gotta be some kind of record," Caitlin remarked, truly surprised.

"Yeah," Cisco laughed for a brief moment. "Well, there goes my excuse for bailing on my brother's birthday. By the way, Barry, I'm borrowing your girlfriend."

Barry made a gesture it was fine while playfully rolling his eyes. His mood was downgraded when Wells scolded him for his actions.

"I just saved a lot of lives, Dr. Wells," Barry felt like this needed no explanation.

"I warned you not to mess with the timeline!"

"Dr. Wells, if you would just let me tell you what was gonna happen, you'd understand why I did this."

Wells did not relinquish his position. "Whatever tragedy you think you've just averted, time will find a way to replace it and trust me, Barry, the next one could be much worse."

But in that moment Barry failed to see what would go wrong from saving the city from a tidal wave.

~ 0 ~

"I don't understand what happened?" Maritza dabbed a cloth to her brother's upper lip where a pool of blood was resting. She cast a suspicious look at Angie who was busy picking up the mess in her living room caused by Rayan himself.

"Your brother as usual!" Angie didn't hesitate to blame, almost feeling like throwing Rayan a cushion. "He got mad and decided my living room was his play area!"

"I get that..." Maritza muttered then looked at Rayan who'd been quiet ever since she'd arrived to see the scene. "What I don't understand is what happened that made you so mad blood started coming out your nose?"

Rayan rolled his eyes and pushed her hand away. He snatched the cloth from her hands - startling her - and roughly wiped the blood left over his lip. "I was working on finding ourselves a good meta that would help me!"

"With what?" asked Maritza, eyeing him as he got up from his chair. As soon as he did stand, Angie warningly pointed at him not to start his tantrums again.

"I want to find out who the Flash is so that I can kill him!" Rayan angrily said and threw the cloth into the living room. Angie was close to exploding from anger. "I had a metahuman all lined up to help me but somehow the Flash already caught him!"

Maritza was, frankly, surprised at such hostility Rayan was showing. Yes, it was always evident that none of them like STAR Labs and its prized Flash, but it had never reached to this type of level. Rayan was angrier often, having more frequent headaches and - starting now - he also had blood coming from his nose. It was worrisome but Rayan didn't appear to be as concerned.

"So then just find someone else!" Angie exclaimed just as the apartment door opened up.

"Ok, great, we're already shouting at each other?" Noah rolled his eyes at the scene. "What about now?"

"Oh, you know, Rayan had another tantrum and-"

"-we lost a potential metahuman who could've helped with an idea Rayan had," Maritza finished before Angie had the bright idea to further anger Rayan.

"What was the idea?" Noah asked, specifically looking at Rayan.

"I want to know who the Flash is. If we have the identity then I can end him even quicker."

"Well, if you want that then you'd need to a)-" Noah listed off beginning with his thumb, "-get his hood off which we all know that's impossible. B)-" he tapped his index finger, "-get Belén to tell you which we also know is impossible. And C)-" he smiled, "-get a metahuman who's interested in the same idea."

"I don't suppose you would know of any metahumans? Maybe make yourself more useful?" Rayan started pacing back and forth, missing Noah's temporary glare his way.

"Actually, I might just," his announcement made the three look at him again. "There's been a recent spree of robberies done with a specific method that only Leonard Snart and his crew could do."

"Who?" Angie raised an eyebrow, propping an elbow on the couch's arm rest to then rest her cheek over her palm.

"Snart is a genius when it comes to making robberies. I've read a lot of his work from articles we've run," Noah went on to explain. "He and the Flash had a good fight a while ago and it ended up with Snart going to prison and then breaking out. If there's anyone who has it in for the Flash right now it'd be him."

Rayan came to a stop, agreeing with Noah's idea. "Then let's find him."

~ 0 ~

Later that afternoon, Cisco and Belén made an appearance at Cisco's brother's birthday party. Belén couldn't help be excited at such an upbeat home despite Cisco wearing one of the biggest frowns known to man.

"Wow that cake is _gorgeous_ ," Belén squealed at the sight of multi-layer birthday cake set on a side table.

"Oh, well... it is Dante's birthday. The most important day of the year," Cisco muttered, looking completely glum.

Belén turned around and straightened her pink dress up. "Now Cisco, when it's your birthday I will make you a multi-layer birthday cake too!"

"You bake?"

Belén reconsidered her statement and amended it by saying, "Cisco, I will _buy_ you a multilayer cake for your birthday. Walking Dead quote at the top?" Cisco had only a moment to smile before his brother, Dante, walked up to them.

"Hey. What's up, man?"

Cisco tried to be cordial and greeted back. "Hey."

"Glad you could make it."

"Of course."

Belén smiled at the two brothers, getting a much different vibe than when she and Rayan met a while ago. This was a fixable relationship, she thought. Dante smiled at her and extended a hand towards her. "Hi, I'm Dante."

"This is my friend, Belén," Cisco introduced the ombre-blonde.

"Happy birthday, Dante," she said.

Cisco then handed his brother the gift he had brought. Dante took it and gave it a mild look. 'Thank you."

"I think you'll really like it. It's…"

But Dante was finished with it and interjected, "Thanks, man," and then excused himself.

"I'm sure he'll like what ever it is you bought him," Belén said after a moment of awkward silence. It had been incredibly rude on Dante's part but she hoped Cisco would stick it out for his family.

~ 0 ~

Barry had taken to running on the STAR Labs treadmill in hopes of getting somewhere in the future of this new changed timeline. He noticed Dr. Wells coming in and decided to stop then. "I don't get it. I've been running just as fast as I was when it happened, and nothing. I'm still here."

"Any number of things could've triggered the wormhole that allows you to repeat your day. Your emotions, your circumstances, your cortisol levels, all of the above."

Barry moved over to a table and leaned back on it, trying to catch his breath. "Well, I mean, my adrenaline was super high since the entire city…"

Wells quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, no. No details. I told you."

Barry raised his hands. "All right, I'm sorry, but Mark Mardon's already locked in the pipeline and nothing bad has happened."

"Yet."

Barry rolled his eyes, unable to help himself from doing it. It had been a couple hours since he brought Mardon in and nothing bad had happened. He was counting on having an easy day and so far, things seemed to be going on the right track. He didn't understand how things could get complicated.

Joe appeared at the doorway, giving a polite knock on the door before entering. "So when were you planning on telling me you took down Mardon?"

Barry realized he had forgotten to mention it and felt guilty. "I... I just haven't had a chance yet…"

"You got sidetracked, you mean?"

"No, Joe, you can't be mad," Barry shut his eyes a moment. The last thing he needed was for Joe to be angry as well.

"I'm not mad. But I am curious. I mean, you were acting so weird at the crime scene."

"I always act weird."

Joe knew something was up. "Okay. Weirder."

"Look, Joe, there are just some things that I can't tell you, and you're gonna have to trust me," Barry left it at that and grabbed his phone off the table behind. "I'll be out," he informed the two men and made a hasty retreat.

~ 0 ~

At the party, the crowd witnessed Dante finish a piano piece he so graciously played thanks to his mother. As the crowd then dispersed, Dante walked back to Belén and Cisco.

"Ah, I was a little rusty. I haven't played in a while," he tried being modest, much to Cisco's annoyance.

Belén, on the other hand, had been completely astounded. "Are you kidding me? If that was what you sounded being rusty, I can't imagine what you sound like when you've practiced!"

"Oh, for you, I'd practice morning, noon, and night," Dante flirtatiously smiled. Belén blushed and laughed from embarrassment.

"That means you'd actually have to get up in the morning," Cisco inputted, hoping to bring his brother back before he outright flirted with Belén.

Dante, not amused by that comment, switched the subject of the conversation. "So, Mom tells me you're still working at STAR Labs, huh?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"No reason, man. Guess it was just hard to find another job, huh?"

Cisco frowned. "Oh, I wasn't looking. I actually like working at STAR Labs."

"And he's really good at it," Belén added.

"Oh, he's loyal," Dante nodded. "Just like a dog." Cisco gave a look and Dante chuckled. "Oh, come on. Why are you so serious, mija?"

Cisco had had enough. It was a mistake ever thinking Dante was capable of being nice even for a second. He shook his head, turned around and promptly walked away. Belén coughed awkwardly and said her final 'happy birthday' before following Cisco.

So...maybe the relationship wasn't as fixable as she'd thought.

~ 0 ~

"So...things just went wrong?" Iris couldn't help make faces after hearing from Belén about the Ramon birthday party. The two were at Jitters, each sitting on the couches set up at the end of the building.

"I don't mean to be rude...but the brother was rude," Belén sighed. "I thought, you know, Cisco sticking it out might make things better."

"Poor guy," Iris leaned an arm on the couch arm. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I don't think so," Belén shook her head.

"Hey!" They heard Barry call to them. He was walking towards them, having barely entered the place. He was so glad to have spotted them.

"Hey," both women greeted in return.

"So, I thought you couldn't go on a date tonight because you were going to be with Cisco's at his family's," Barry took a seat next to Belén.

The face Belén was making told Barry something had gone wrong. "Dante really is a prick. I mean, he's this amazing pianist-" she suddenly leaned towards Iris, "-and I mean a _fantastic_ pianist-"

"Uh, hello?" Barry made a face, making Belén chuckle.

"Sorry. Anyways, Dante is talented but he _is_ rude. He made Cisco feel like he was trash for working at STAR Labs."

"So where's Cisco now?" Barry looked around the place but he didn't see Cisco anywhere.

"He said he needed a drink," Belén answered, shrugging. "And I don't know where that is but I'm sure you'll find out if you text him."

"Me!?"

"Oh, you can't leave Cisco alone!" Belén shifted so that she faced Barry. "I think it'd be a really good idea if you were with him right now. He'd probably feel more comfortable talking about his brother with you. You know...bros?"

"I mean, I guess..." Barry wasn't going to lie and say he hadn't thought for a moment that perhaps he and Belén could go on a date tonight, but...it sounded like Cisco really needed someone.

"Thanks!" Belén hugged him in her excitement.

"I guess Cisco's the date tonight," Iris joked from her seat. She didn't need powers to read minds and know what Barry had been thinking. "Huh, Barry?"

Barry scowled at her. Belén chuckled and grabbed Barry's collars to bring him closer to her. "So long as he's only kissing me."

At that, Barry smirked. "No question there." He leaned down and kissed her until they both heard a clear "yuck" from behind.

Iris was frowning at them, crinkling her nose, while she lowered her cup of coffee. "Not in front of me, please."

"Oh, but it's okay when you and Eddie have your moments," Belén reminded to which Iris then smirked at.

"Yeah, well, it's different."

"How so?"

Iris' smirk widened. "Eddie's good looking," she grabbed her purse and waved them goodbye.

"...yeah, Eddie is good looking," Barry heard Belén agree.

"Hello!?" he gently tapped the side of her head.

"What!? He _is_!" Belén exclaimed, laughing as she saw it riled Barry up. "I didn't realize it took so little to make you jealous," Belén swayed her head in thought. "I can have a lot fun with his..."

She just hoped he'd never realize how easy it was to make her jealous too!

~ 0 ~

Plasticine stepped over a shattered glass vase on a wooden floor. On her way towards the dining room she pushed a bust with a finger, causing it to also crash on the floor. "Lovely home you got here," she called to the newest owners of the house.

The sounds of guns being cocked made no effect on Plasticine. She came to a stop and crossed her arms, letting the two men - and female - come out of their hiding spots.

"Well I don't have all night, I do have a son to get back to," Plasticine made a gesture with her finger for the three to hurry up.

"Who are you?" one man in a big, blue jacket demanded, carrying one regular aimed gun at her. Leonard Snart always made sure his hide outs were empty of anyone before he moved in.

"My name's Plasticine, and don't bother yourself with that," she pointed at the gun. "I come bearing peace...and an offer."

"We don't need an offer-"

"But you do. Because I know where you can find the man who created your little guns a while back." She smirked when she saw them stiffening. "So then, Mr. Snart, care to hear my plan?" she gestured to the other two, Mick Rory and Lisa Snart. "You're both invited of course. We'll be needing you."

"Exactly why would we want to work with you?" Lisa Snart curiously wondered. "Last time I heard you were robbing liquor stores for _milk_ ," her smirk meant nothing to Plasticine.

"Hey, I have a son who likes to have milk every night before bed," Plasticine shrugged then got to business. "I heard you had beef with the Flash and I wondered if we could work on a little project that would benefit both of us."

"I don't work with people I don't know," Snart spat, eyeing the woman with nothing but distrust.

"Look, the Flash has got my sister working with him and I don't want that. Neither does our brother."

This new information intrigued Snart by all means. He lowered his gun and moved forwards. "Are you telling me shooter-girl is your _sister_?"

"She goes by Azalea, and yes she's my little sister," Plasticine quickly pointed at him, "Off limits by the way."

"How do we know you're not tricking us?" Mick Rory asked a very good question.

"Because, as I said, my sister is working for him and - as I'm sure you've read - I'm not exactly a good person. Flash wants me and my crew locked up and we disagree."

"So what did you have in mind?" Snart inquired.

"My sister passingly told me Cisco - the man who made your gun - was going to be at a bar tonight. If we get him here for insurance, I'm sure you could get either the Flash to reveal himself or get Cisco to do it for you."

"And why the hell would he betray his friend?"

"Because you're not only going to take Cisco, you're also going after his brother."

"If we take someone he cares about then he'll definitely do what we want," Lisa whispered to her brother. "I could even get a gun of my own. You know I've been wanting one too!"

Snart rolled his eyes. "Sounds decent enough."

~ 0 ~

"Morning," Belén greeted Caitlin, Barry and Dr. Wells as she came into the cortex. "Is Cisco in yet?"

"No," Caitlin shook her head and allowed Belén to see some concern in her eyes. "I've been trying to get him on his cell, but he's not answering. Kind of... worried about him. I know he had a rough day yesterday."

"Yeah, it wasn't the best," agreed Belén. "But he and Barry went out for some drinks last night so I'm hoping he was a little cheered up."

Barry smiled quite widely as he remembered the previous night in which Cisco had found himself a date. "Trust me, he got better."

"That's good," Belén beamed.

Barry felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and made a motion he'd be answering. "Hey, Joe. What's up?"

On the other line, Joe went straight for the problem. "Yeah, Snart's back."

This took Barry by surprise. "Wait, Cold is back?"

Behind him, everyone was shocked.

"Yeah, he was spotted at the Santini crime family casino. If he's hitting the Santinis, we could be looking at the beginning of a mob war."

Barry hung up looking heavily concerned. From the desk Wells sighed. "Well, this day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" He shot Barry a knowing look.

"We gotta get him," Belén immediately said.

"I'll go," Barry volunteered, passing her for his suit across the room. "It'll be quick."

"I don't think that's what's gonna hap-"

"It will, trust me," Barry said, quite sure of himself that he didn't allow for anyone else to give an opinion before he sped out of the room in the suit.

"When do you think he'll learn nothing rarely goes our way?" Belén sighed to the others.

Caitlin offered a little smile and gestured for Belén to grab the seat next to her. "We best monitor everything."

Joe had been correct with his tip on Snart. He only missed the part where Snart brought in his younger sister - Lisa - into the play, both donning brand new guns. Snart once more had acquired a new cold gun while Lisa brought in a gold gun into the field.

Barry had gotten in and taken everyone save the Snarts from the room. He captured Lisa in an attempt to bring Snart down.

Snart laughed and lowered his gun. "We both know you're not going to do anything to her. Oh, by the way, meet my baby sister. Lisa, Flash. Flash, Lisa." Lisa flashed a flirty smile Barry's way. "Cisco has been very, very busy. Unless you want me to mail small, frozen pieces of him back to his family, I'd take your hands off her."

With the shocking news of Cisco's whereabouts, Barry let go of Lisa and allowed her to go back to her brother. "Let him go, Snart."

"I'll think about it," Snart cooly responded while taking a peaceful departure with Lisa. "Unless you feel like telling me your name..."

Barry was left frozen in his spot, and it wasn't from any cold gun at all.

~ 0 ~

By the time Barry returned to STAR Labs - since he had been with the CCPD taking evidence for the scene - the others had set to work trying to figure out how Cisco landed in the hands of Snart.

"Here we have Cisco getting into a car with Snart's sister," Belén crinkled her nose at the clear fake blonde on the screen.

"And the license plate is iced over," Wells gestured to the unclear plate on Lisa's car.

Belén groaned and got up from her chair. "We gotta find him," she rubbed her face, looking weary of their non-stop search.

"Bells, why don't you go take a break?" suggested Barry.

"You want me to rest while my friend is kidnapped?" she arched eyebrow. "I bet Cisco didn't take a break when I was kidnapped."

"Okay, then at least go get some coffee downstairs," Barry amended. "Caitlin is down there too and she's taking it pretty hard too."

"Yeah, she is," Belén mumbled and turned for the threshold. "Alright, I'll go get her then…let us know if anything happens."

"Of course," Barry assured and watched her leave to know when he could stop his charade of ease. When she was absolutely gone, Barry groaned. "All right, Dr. Wells, you were right. I... I... I screwed with time and now time is screwing with me. Cold is back, he kidnapped Cisco0"

"Stop right there before you cause another disruption to the timeline," Wells sharply cut in.

Barry seemed frantic and yet tired if this rule. "Please, Dr. Wells. Please, I have to talk to someone."

Wells hated going against his own rules, but for once he would let it slide. "Go ahead."

"In the previous version of today, Captain Singh is seriously injured, Joe is in danger, and Bells is fighting this weird man I don't know. And now Cisco's life is on the line. I don't understand. I thought that I was helping people by stopping Mardon."

"Yes, but this new ability of yours, Barry, is dangerous. You only traveled back in time one day. What if you traveled back decades? Centuries? Imagine the havoc you could wreak."

Barry frowned when he realized that this would occur again. "But I will have the opportunity to travel back in time in the near future and save my mom. Or...you're saying I shouldn't?"

Wells swayed his head trying to come up with the right words. "I'm saying how many more people could die if your mother lives?"

Silence took over the room as Barry could not find the proper words to answer. It was a genuine question, one that made you think more. Would he sacrifice more lives for his mother?

~ 0 ~

In the Santini house, Snart was preparing the last of the plans when Plasticine showed up, calling it a supervision visit. She made sure the dining room where Cisco and his brother were being held captive was shut before speaking up.

"Congratulations on the guns," she eyed the cold gun in Snart's hands. "I hear your partners got some as well."

"That was part of the deal wasn't it?" Snart put a hand over the gun and smirked a bit. "I get the guns and you get…"

"The _name_ of the Flash," Plasticine enunciated slowly and loudly. "I told you Snart I want that name and I'm getting it."

Snart noted her urgency of the problem and decided to pick at it. "Just out of curiosity, what's the interest in the identity? Even if you do learn it, what's that to you? It's not like you have the speed to stop him."

"Because I'm not the one who's going to fight him. My brother is - you should be thankful he's not here because lately he's been getting stronger," Plasticine smirked, though inside she was still worried over Rayan. While his powers were getting stronger, so were his health problems.

"Look I just like to know my liabilities-"

Plasticine scoffed. " _Liabilities_? Snart you are _my_ liability. You are nothing compared to me, to any metahuman actually. You're good for thieving and kidnapping but that's about it. I'm trusting the hell out of you at the moment and I swear to god if you mess this up I'm coming back for you." Her voice once again went up in volume. "Get me the identity by tonight."

"Got it," Snart muttered and watched her turn around to leave. His mind was brewing already, and not in the way she wanted. She may have the powers but he had the brains.

Plasticine stopped at the door to give a last warning. "And you better remember my sister is off limits!"

There was a click in Snart's mind and out came a smirk that Plasticine missed when she walked out.

~ 0 ~

"Yeah, thanks Iris. Talk to you later," Belén politely finished a conversation on the phone with Iris. As she put her phone back in her bag, she saw Barry coming in with his own mug of coffee. "Iris called in asking about Cisco…"

"I'm constantly calling Joe," Barry admitted, feeling useless in this search. "But there's no updates."

"There will be, I'm sure of it," Belén said, mighty confident. "So quit blaming yourself!"

"Blame?"

"Yeah, I know you blame yourself because you didn't see Lisa was actually under the blonde wig."

"If I had been paying more attention..."

Belén smiled and moved closer to him, taking his mug and putting it on the desk. "None of it was your fault. You could have never guessed that Snart had a sister. And much less that they were planning all this." She put her hands on his arms stepped a bit closer again. "No one here blames you, so neither should you."

Barry couldn't help the wide smile that spread across his face. His girlfriend was fantastic. Beautifully fantastic. He relished the closer support they now had between them. It was something he could really get used to. "Thank you," he said in a whisper.

Belén smiled softly at him. "Of course. Now let's go find our friend and kick Snart's ass again."

~ 0 ~

It was no surprise that Mick had gone out of it and started beating the Ramon siblings after an attempt to flee. Snart hurriedly came in to stop it. The siblings needed to be alive in order for anything to work, after all.

"Oh! Mick! Mick, calm down! Mick! We need them!"

Lisa strolled in casually and grabbed Mick by the arm, using a soft tone to speak to him. "Mick? Baby? It sounds like you're hungry. How about you and I grab some dinner?" She led him out of the room so that Snart could enact the last bit of their plan.

"I like you, kid. You're smart," Snart said to Cisco, not that he was buying it. "You pulled yourself up from humble beginnings. You seem like a good brother."

With a bloody nose, Cisco mumbled back, "You too."

"Debatable. You answer two questions for me, I'll let you and your brother walk. Alive."

Cisco could see this would not be good, but prepared himself nonetheless. "What's are the questions?"

"The Flash. Who is he?"

Cisco didn't think twice before answering. "I swear...he always wears a mask."

Snart rolled his eyes and shot his cold gun at Dante's hands. Dante screamed as his hands turned purple. Cisco rushed to his side. "Aah! No! No! Stop!"

Snart smirked. "This is first degree frost bite. Your brother could recover with proper treatment. If not, all his tendons, blood vessels, and nerves will freeze. His fingers will need to be amputated. No more concertos for the Ramon family holidays. Now tell me, who is The Flash?"

Cisco looked between Snart and his brother, his heart hammering within his chest. There was no way in hell his friends were going to come in on time to save them, and...despite the problems he had with Dante, they were _family_...

~ 0 ~

"There's nothing on the satellite thermography," Caitlin gave up on her computer screen after a long search. She leaned back on her chair and rubbed her forehead, willing herself to take a breath then start again.

Barry, too, was near to losing it. "You were right," he said to Wells, "This is all my fault."

Belén, who sat next to him, gave him a frown, of course not understanding he was talking about the change in time lines. "Barry, we established this: it's not your fault!"

"Brave heart, Barry. We'll get Cisco back," Wells cleverly responded so that Belén wuld not keep questioning.

"I'm back," Cisco appeared by the threshold, making everyone shoot up from their seats.

"Cisco!" Belén beamed and hurried up to give him a hug. "Oh my God!"

"What happened? How did you escape?" Wells asked from behind, all of them wondering the same thing.

"I didn't," Cisco said absolutely quietly.

"Snart just let you go?" Barry knew those words couldn't go in the same sentence. "Why?"

It was fairly fast the way Cisco teared up while explaining. "He, um... he tortured my brother. And he said he was gonna kill him if I didn't... if I didn't tell him…"

"Tell him what?" Caitlin dreaded to question.

Cisco swallowed hard before answering. "Who The Flash really is." Everyone's eyes widened, but none said a word. Feeling incredibly guilty, Cisco tried to explain better. "I, honestly, man, they... they could've killed me. But they were gonna kill my brother. I couldn't let him do that."

"Hey," Barry, of course, didn't blame Cisco for anything. He knew why Cisco had been put in that situation in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Barry."

"No. I'm so sorry. I put you in that position. I'm the one who's sorry."

Cisco gathered himself for one last thing to say. He sniffed. "There's more…"

"What?" Barry asked, now stepping back to where Belén was.

Cisco opened his mouth but couldn't speak up because of courage.

"Cisco, c'mon," Belén softly encouraged him to go on.

"He wanted to know someone else…" Cisco began, and slowly recounted the story.

* * *

" _One more thing," Snart threateningly lowered his cold gun at Dante. Cisco gave him an incredulous look. "Shooter-girl, the one that held a gun against me the first time we met, she got an older sister and brother?"_

" _What?" escaped Cisco's mouth before he could think._

 _Snart had no patience and pressed the top of his gun to Dante's hands. "She got a sister and brother or not?"_

" _Y-yes," Cisco detested himself for answering._

" _Excellent," Snart smirked. "What's Shooter-girl's name?"_

" _I-I don't…"_

" _WHAT'S HER NAME?"_

 _Cisco nearly lost it when he saw the gun being powered on._

* * *

"You told him my name," Belén whispered what Cisco could not say himself.

"I'm so sorry!" Cisco broke down, but Belén was not an ounce mad. She automatically hugged him again.

"Cisco, I know you didn't want to, it's not your fault," she tried to reason with him but he didn't agree.

He pulled away and started leaving when Barry called to him. "Where are you going?"

Cisco turned back only to say, "I don't deserve to be here. I won't be the one to put you in jeopardy. Not again. Never again." He walked out pretty fast, making sure no one had a chance to tell him anything more.

"I'm gonna go try and talk with him," Caitlin said not a minute later. She nearly skipped out of the room due to her haste. Wells soon followed, but more because he believed the remaining two would need a moment alone.

"Bells…" Barry watched her move to the side with her arms crossed.

"It doesn't make sense…" she mumbled.

"Don't think about it," Barry walked the little space between them. He reached for Belén's nearest arm in order to turn her around. "He's not going to hurt you, okay? I promise." If he had felt guilty before the feeling had multiplied tenfold. Not only had Snart gained his true name but Belén's identity as well. Snart knew who they were, and could probably calculate where they would be at whatever day.

"Look, I'm worried about that, yes-" Belén nodded, "-but it just doesn't make sense, Barry. Why would Snart want to know _me_? Why not ask for the _Azalea's_ identity instead?"

This suddenly rang true in Barry's head as well. It was a very valid point...and with an answer he would like to know. Snart never did anything without careful calculations.

"And then...he asked for my _sister_ and _brother_ ," Belén added, growing even more confused. "What the hell is that about?"

"I don't know," Barry saw no point in lying. He cupped her face and leaned closer. "But whatever he's planning, we're going to stop him. I'm not letting anything happen to you."

"Me? Feel unprotected around _you_?" Belén giggled. "You're funny."

Barry tried to smile like she was, but his guilt denied him the chance. He couldn't stop thinking about this new power Snart held over him and Belén. What was he planning on doing with the information?

~ 0 ~

When STAR Labs got to work, they got to work. In a short time they had figured out what the Snarts and Mick Rory were truly up to.

"The casino wasn't the target," Caitlin begun explaining to Cisco and Wells who'd been out of the cortex.

Cisco, who seemed better than earlier, questioned, "Then why did he do it?"

"Casinos keep tons of cash on hand to cover their markers, not to mention the money that they make. But if they're under attack, the protocol is to relocate the money outside the casino."

"So, that was Snart's plan all along. To trigger the move," Wells fit the pieces in rather quick.

"Exactly," Caitlin pointed and soon got to typing on the computer in front of her. "So now all we gotta do is figure out where the truck is to find them."

"I'm ready," Barry declared, truly already in his suit.

The look he had on Belén was one she was already quite used to. "You're not letting me come, are you?" she sighed.

"He knows you," Barry tried to reason, but she shook her head.

"And he knows _you_!"

"But he doesn't know you're the Azalea!"

"And? It's not long before he puts the puzzle pieces together, Barry. I want to go."

"No," this time it was Cisco who had spoken up, causing her to turn with a wide-eyed, blinking face. "Bells, please, don't go."

The confusion in Belén's face was crystal clear. "Wait, _you're_ asking me not to go?"

"I feel horrible about what I did, and just for tonight I rather you stay here. If anything happens, Barry's fast enough. We need to know what he wanted your name for."

Belén looked between Cisco and Barry for a good minute, still in disbelief. Seeing herself outnumbered - because the silence from Caitlin and Wells was more than enough proof of their chosen side - she agreed. "Fine, but one of you-" she pointed warning fingers at both men, "-will owe me a drink."

Both smiled at her in relief and partial amusement.

"I will get you that drink," Barry ended up promising her.

With that being decided, they returned to acquiring the location of the truck moving the casino money. When they had a spot, Barry zoomed out of the building and headed for a lonesome road where, sure enough, he caught sight of an ongoing shot fight between the truck and the thieves. Without a warning, Barry came in and plucked Snart from his motorcycle, leaving Lisa to scramble from her side spot into the driver's seat. However, she wasn't fast enough and the job ended there with a loud crash.

Barry left Snart across him, in the middle of a foggy forest.

Snart smirked at the presence of the metahuman. "Good to see you... _Barry_. We have to talk."

Barry pulled down the hood of his suit, seeing no point in keeping it around. Still, the earpod set in the suit was active for the others to hear. It had been Belén's condition. "I know Cisco told you who I am."

Snart tilted his head, acknowledging what Barry said. "Can't really blame the kid for giving you up. You or his brother? Come on!"

"But you didn't stop there," Barry's voice darkened.

"Shooter-girl?" Snart's smirk widened. "Yeah, I imagine that one came as a true surprise?"

"Something like that."

"Consider it my insurance," Snart raised his hands to show for the moment it was all peaceful.

Barry scowled. "I could speed you to my own private prison where you'll never see the light of day."

"And there it is - my insurance. See because You you might not care about your identity, but I can easily have shooter-girl captured. I've already done it before, let's not forget." The smirk on Snart's face was making it real difficult for Barry not to go and punch him already. "Or...I could go even up higher and have her.. disappear? So, the million dollar question. What to do with me now, Barry Allen?"

"I won't let you keep stealing whatever you want, whenever you feel like it. It needs to end."

"Can't do that. It's what I do," Snart shrugged, like Barry should have known this already.

"Then find a new line of work."

"Don't want to."

"Why is that?"

"The same reason you keep running after guys like me. The adrenaline. The thrill of the chase. I love this game. And I'm very good at it."

Barry could not believe what he was hearing. "Then go play it somewhere else. Leave Central City."

"Can't do that either. I love it here. This city is my home."

" _Oh my god this guy is so conceited and sadistic,_ " came Belén's voice through the suit's earpod. Barry raised up his hand to his ear to hear her better. Snart intently watched the silent moment, coming up with a pretty good idea of what was going on. _"Barry you listen and tell this guy I don't care if he does know my name. Next time he goes after one of ours we'll get him for sure."_

"She's listening, isn't she?" Snart called, staying right where he was. Barry didn't say anything but he had a look of doom. "I'm not your enemy, Shooter-girl," he purposely spoke louder, "Hell, none of this was my idea - except for getting the guns rebuilt."

"Then who was it?" Barry asked.

Snart put a finger to his lips. "We made a deal. But look, I kind of like Shooter-girl. She's got guts. And she's loyal, which is more than what I can say for her family."

" _What...what does that mean?"_ Belén's voice displayed an open show of fear. _"Barry, what does - ask him what that means! Please!"_ Was it possible Snart learned about Rayan already!?

Barry automatically turned the off the communication between him and STAR Labs. With a fierce look, he stepped towards Snart. "I don't care what you threaten me with you are not going to hurt her."

" _I'm_ not the one plotting plans for her nor you," Snart sarcastically gestured to himself. "It's their fault I now know who the Azalea is too. Not that hard to put together after I got the civilian name."

Barry shook his head, unable to take more of this. "You listen well, Snart, you've seen what I can do and I can guarantee you the Azalea is more than happy to kick your ass too if you ever go after our friends again. So, here's the deal: you want to keep pushing your luck, go for it. But from here on out, no one else dies. If you're as good as you say you are, you don't have to kill anyone to get what you want."

Snart considered this with a sway of his head. "That's true…"

"And like I said, if you, or anyone in your Rogues' gallery goes near any of my friends or family again, I don't care who you tell my identity to. I'm putting you away."

Snart smiled devilishly. "I guess your secret's safe... Flash. For now." Barry gave a nod, but made a gesture with a hand that indicated he was waiting for something else. "Oh," Snart rolled his eyes, "And we won't go looking for Shooter-girl."

"She doesn't like that name," Barry said, intending on leaving.

"It's catchier than the Azalea," Snart gave a casual shrug. "I don't suppose you'd give me a ride back to town, would you?" Snart had decided to push his luck just a bit more but received a sarcastic smile from Barry before being left in the lonesome forest. "The Rogues," he considered the new nickname, "Cute."

~ 0 ~

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T TELL ME HIS NAME!?" Plasticine swiped off an ornate flower vase off its long side table. Perhaps she was taking after Rayan as well.

Across the dining room, Snart was watching her with a complete sense of satisfaction. He could see this woman - this villain supposedly - was not quite put together. Without being put together, she wasn't lethal.

"We made a damn deal, Snart!" Plasticine had turned around with a threatning pointing finger at the man.

"Deal didn't go how we planned, did it?" Snart innocently raised his palms. "We didn't get the money-"

"BUT YOU GOT YOUR GUNS!" Plasticine shouted. "You have the Flash's identity and _that_ was _my_ idea!"

"Which you did nothing to execute except get yourself a couple of puppets who would do it for you," Snart finished, narrowing his eyes. "Well gues what? These puppets have cut the strings off. I have the Flash's identity-" he began walking towards her, "-and not just that. I even got the name of your little sister."

Plasticine stiffened instantly. "You're lying…"

"Am I?" Snart smirked, stopping right in front of her. "Belén Palayta. I recognized her name from a couple of the CC Picture News article. She's a reporter by day and the Azalea by night - how adorable."

"...how did you even know her…?" Plasticine's edginess had been lost now that she knew what was at stake.

"Your sister was the Azalea, so then I figured that this woman had to be close to the Flash in civilian form as well...and do you know who popped into my mind?" Plasticine's terrified silence was all the more fun for Snart. "Shooter-girl. Yeah, she had the same fierce eyes as you did and the only one to fight the same as the Azalea. Put two and two together and that led me to the family - what a family it is, huh? Twin Rayan Palayta disappeared, Maritza Palayta widowed, and even the father's murdered?" Snart released a whistle. "Your family can give mine a run for its money. Your son is quite adorable-"

Swallowing hard, Plasticine began to speak, "You don't go near my son do you hear-'

"Oh don't worry," Snart waved a hand. "I'm a thief but even I've got morals. But I can't say the same for your mother and sister. So if you do anything - so much as threaten me or any of mine - I will make sure your family suffers."

"I will get you for this, Snart," Plasticine warned, but Snart scoffed.

"Sure. Come back when you've learned how to play the game, sweetheart," Snart patted her arm.

Plasticine pushed his hand away and stalked out of the room, but not before shooting some of her purple mass and breaking another delicate, yet equally expensive, ornament.

"We were moving anyways!" called Snart who was fighting the urge not to laugh. He truly did love the game.

~ 0 ~

Days had passed and since then, everything seemed to be returning to normal for team Flash, that is until Joe was called in to Barry's lab one night.

"Barr, what's up? Why did you want to meet up here so late?"

Barry was looking out into the city at the window, remembering the online newscast announcing the disappearance of Belén's and Iris' co-worker Mason Bridges. He really thought long and hard about this before getting the courage to call Joe. "I think that maybe you were right, about Dr. Wells."

Joe frowned, vaguely recalling that period in which he believed Dr. Wells was hiding something. "Which part?"

"All of it," Barry turned around, dead serious. Something no longer felt right about Wells, and usually those gut feelings turned out to be right.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sooo last time we had Rayan leading his own plan and now we had Maritza. I wanted to show the difference between the two: Rayan is not doing so well but neither is Maritza. They seem off their a-game, right? I hope the bit of Snart asking for Belén's name and not the Azalea's name made sense. I figured he would be smarter to work backwards with Belén because by figuring out she was Belén first, he would learn about all her family much easier. And boy did he .

I just checked and there's only like 6 chapters left in this story!? And then we'll be moving onto Zoom? Whaaaaat?

 **P.S** I have published a companion story for this which will be a collection of one-shots of Belén & Barry. If you'd like to read it, it's listed as " _It's So You_ " on my profile! Go and check it out! :)

 **For the Reviews:**

 **LadyRedStar:** Well, as we saw, Barry's changed time line included such more chaos than the actual tsunami thing...yikes! Poor Rayan...we'll see what happens with him...

 **Guest** : Well I hope you liked the new chapter then! :)


	21. Being the Azalea

Barry stood in front of his usual board in the precinct lab, while Joe sat behind. "Alright, this is everything that we know about Harrison Wells." Much like the case of his mother, he pulled down a secret board down to reveal a brand new case - Dr. Well's - on there. "Which is actually not a lot."

Joe thought it ironic despite the problem at hand. "Didn't you read a whole book about him?"

"Yeah, 600 pages, and the big takeaway is, he's enigmatic."

"Your mom was killed by a speedster. Wells' machine turned you into a speedster. That's way too many coincidences for this old cop."

Barry shook his head, at a complete loss. "Do you think that he wanted me to become the Flash?"

Joe shrugged. "Everything he's done since that night you got struck by lightning... bringing you to STAR Labs, giving you the suit, training you... it's all been to keep you safe."

"And to make me faster. Wells once said that he needed more speed from me. Why?"

"I don't know. But he wants something from you, Barry. We just need to figure out what it is."

Barry was feeling like patience should just be damned. "Well, let's go get him then. Let's get some answers!"

Joe stood up and walked up to the board to take a closer look. "We can't do that now as much as we might want to."

"Joe, you had your suspicions about Wells from the very beginning. You thought that he might be the man in yellow."

"Except the blood from your house didn't match him," Joe reminded.

"Alright, so maybe he's not the Reverse-Flash, but you think that he knows what happened that night. He may have the key to getting my dad out of prison."

Joe sighed and looked away from the board."Whatever Wells wants from you, it started 15 years ago. He's been patient. Scary patient. You gotta listen to me on this. We have to be just as patient."

"Hello?" came the familiar chirpy voice. Barry immediately pulled down the board's common - public - paper just as Belén walked in. Despite his quickness, Belén detected she had walked in on a moment she wasn't invited to. "I should have waited downstairs…" she apologetically chuckled.

"No, no, it's fine," Joe gave Barry a look on how close it had been. For the moment, it was decided no one would know about their investigation on Wells. "I was leaving anyways."

"I don't quite believe that," Belén stopped by a table full of what she considered interesting science things.

In an attempt to steer the conversation away from anything dangerous, Joe casually asked, "You guys made plans?"

It had worked.

Belén nodded and turned to the detective. "Barry's buying me the drink he promised me so that I wouldn't come with him to see Snart."

Joe made a face and glanced at Barry. "You bought her off with drinks?"

"Don't get used to it," warned Belén. "I'm much more expensive - first time it's a pass."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. Joe said his goodbyes and left the two in the lab.

"Ready to go?" Barry went for his jacket left on the chair by the computer.

"Mhm…" Belén discreetly looked around, hoping to find something of a clue of what was truly going on.

Barry turned back as he put his jacket on and of course noticed her behavior. "Something's wrong?"

"You tell me," she lightly sighed. "For the last couple of days you've been...distant." Barry immediately, almost instinctively looked anywhere else that wasn't her. "Like you don't want to tell me something. I don't know, maybe...maybe you're rethinking this whole dating thing-"

"No that's not it!"

Belén smirked. Tricking him into admitting that had been far too easy and he was supposed to be the scientist. "So there _is_ something?"

Barry shook his head. He couldn't tell her anything, at least not now. He thought it was the best call. He just forgot the part where she was a reporter.

"Barry, you know you can tell me anything right?" Belén spoke earnestly, and softly.

Nodding his head, Barry assured her he knew of this. Nothing left to say meant it was time for the drinks.

Once they were out on the street, Barry felt it was time to cut the silence he knew was meant to make him come clean. Unfortunately for Belén, when he did speak up it wasn't to confess.

"I was thinking maybe we should try at your training again…"

Belén's eyes widened, at first surprised but soon the fear filled her eyes. "You know I've been struggling out in the field..."

"I know but I also know that you're fighting it," Barry stopped walking to face her. "And it's for that same reason that you owe yourself to train."

"I know you're right, I really do," Belén took his hands, needing to feel his warmth and support. "Everything you're saying is right but...it's just difficult to accept," she sighed.

"I get it, you're scared-"

"No you don't, Barry," she shook her head. "You're sweet, but you don't get it. You have your powers like this," she made a fist with one of her hands. "Mine are like this-" she released her fist and waved it above her face. "My powers are complex and they scare me. If I lose control in one part, I lose control with everything."

"That's not true-"

"Yes it is!"

"Okay so we know that's not going away until we train again," Barry kept himself calm despite Belén's growing agitation with him. She needed calmness, understanding, something he was more than capable of giving. "Let's just...try one session. One session, you and I, and we can take it slow. Sound good?"

Belén stared at him for a minute before sighing. "I...I guess..."

"You can kick my ass for free," he said, smiling when she laughed. While she laughed, he swooped in and stole a kiss from her. She looped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Words could not express how much better Barry made her feel at moments like these. She doubted words were ever going to be enough to describe it.

A loud explosion from a distance cut their moment short. As they pulled away from each other, a second explosion rocked the ground. They saw smoke billowing into the sky not too far from where they stood.

"Go, it'll be too long if I go get changed first," Belén urged him to go without her.

As the Flash he arrived at the city park to find a disturbing sight. Small gifts strapped to small parachutes were coming down to the park, exploding upon landing. Now everyone was running away with their children but Barry spotted one particular blonde boy that was still anxiously awaiting to grab on more falling gift. Barry sped over and snatched the kid in time, returning him to his father who'd been looking for him.

Not long after that, the culprit happily revealed himself through a video that went online fast. A young man dressed like a modern jester in class black and white leather declared himself the Trickster. " _Tricked ya. Look who's back. My tricks. My treat. But I'll give you something good to eat. Today's special. A city in ashes. The Trickster proudly welcomes you all to the new disorder."_

In the cortex, Cisco paused the video once it was finished and scowled. "Talking in the third person. That's never a good sign."

Caitlin threw him an amused smile. "You're just mad because he named himself."

"Actually, he didn't," Joe turned around, having been watching the video as well. "20 years ago, Central City was hit by a series of terrorist attacks. One man killed at least ten civilians, two cops. That guy called himself The Trickster."

"So he's a copycat?" Belén tilted her head but soon was captured by the news Cisco had found online about the original Trickster.

"Whoa. Someone was rocking the unitard," Cisco did his best not to laugh knowing the situation was serious.

"James Jesse?" Belén read part of the headline.

"Like Jesse James, only more twisted," Joe briefly explained.

"Where is this Mr. Jesse now?" Wells inquired.

"He's serving several life sentences at Iron Heights. He was just about the most dangerous thing Central City had ever seen."

"You mean until the Particle Accelerator blew up," Barry corrected, and rather coldly that someone had noticed.

"Um... Barry and I will go see this James Jesse at Iron Heights, see if he can give us something that can help us catch his groupie," Joe announced, instigating the rest to get to work.

"I'll analyze the video and see if I can figure out the source," Cisco straightened up and started on the computer.

"I'm heading to work too," Belén began getting out of her chair. "The news is hot today so...they'll be needing me."

"C'mon," Barry walked towards her, "We'll give you a lift." He didn't wait for her to openly agree. He took her hand and almost pulled her out of the room.

"Hey, Joe. Is Barry doing all right?" inquired Wells. "He seems cranky."

Joe tried playing it off as casualness, "Even The Flash wakes up on the wrong side of the bed some mornings. He's fine."

If he the same speed powers as Barry, he would've used them there and then.

~0~

CC Picture News was up and alive with the newest criminal town as Belén had said. She entered the building and had to dodge several of her co-workers before they crashed into her. When she reached her desk she plopped down with a heavy sigh of relief she made it without spills of any kind. Just as she was putting down her purse, Noah came up to the desk.

"Belén, did you hear about the new criminal?"

Scoffing - politely - Belén put her elbows on her desk, chin on her hands. "I think _everyone_ 's heard about him."

"He's calling himself the Trickster," it didn't appear like Noah had paid attention. He moved around the desk to be side-to-side with her, laying out a couple of papers he had brought with him.

"Is he now?" Belén tried her best to sound in the dark about the situation.

"Yeah, and the crazier thing is there was another guy - like twenty years ago - with the same name," Noah shuffled through the papers to find the very article that Cisco had pulled up earlier about James Jesse. He handed it to Belén for her to read. "So I was thinking that maybe it was connected some way."

Belén raised an eyebrow, genuinely bemused by him. "What are you? A reporter or a detective?"

"Don't those two kind of the same thing?" Noah smirked and shared a small laugh with her. "This guy - the new Trickster - is doing similar attacks as James Jessee did. Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a fan?" Belén tried the easiest answer she could.

"Obvious answers, Belén," Noah sarcastically looked at her. "Or maybe there's something deeper in there."

"But what?"

"That's what we need to find out," Noah declared, much to her further bemusement. "I asked Iris if she wanted to get in on the article but she's too immersed in Mason's disappearance."

"Right," Belén glanced over her shoulder to see Iris working at her desk, very quietly too. "There's been nothing on him yet?"

"Nothing," Noah was beginning to clear off his papers from her desk. "Boss has tried calling him and everything, but there's no response."

"It's weird," Belén leaned back on her chair, thinking about her annoying co-worker who, she did admit, she kind of missed. It had been a week since Mason mysteriously disappeared without a trace. And while on the first couple of days Belén joked and considered it their break from him, it was becoming a bit of a worry for her.

~ 0 ~

After a wild goose chase trying to find the newest Trickster, Barry and Joe returned to STAR Labs. They'd seen the newest video the young Trickster posted, all of which was just another warning for the city.

"Whoever this Trickster is, he's certainly not shy," Joe remarked after watching the video.

"Well, not every criminal likes to hide in the dark," Barry snidely commented, much to Joe's irritation. He'd been trying to get Barry to keep those types of comments to himself until they knew something concrete about Wells, but apparently it was too difficult for Barry.

"Cisco, can you trace where the video was posted from?" he asked Cisco, hoping for the conversation to keep moving and that Barry would no longer talk.

"I tried, but this guy is using some crazy Felicity-caliber scrambler like I've never seen. The origin of the upload's coming from hundreds of different locations. Until he uploads another video, it's gonna be tough."

"This psychopath has the capability to destroy the city," Barry frowned.

Cisco liked being optimistic and clarified, "Hey, I said tough, not impossible."

"Barry, we'll catch him," Caitlin tried to resassure, like the others sensing something was off with him.

"We always do. Mr. Allen, a word please?" asked Wells. He led Barry into one of the side rooms again, the training room, where they could talk freely. "I know what's going on with you. I know what you're thinking."

Barry found it incredibly hard not to make the face he was making right now, as Wells had his back to him. "Do you?"

"I know going up to Iron Heights prison and conversing with Mr. Jesse has brought about feelings of your father. How could it not?"

Barry forced himself to go with it and sighed. "Yeah, no, it's, uh, it's been really tough knowing that my mom's killer is still out there."

"Of course. But we'll find him, together. You have my word."

Barry wondered what fat good that was but on the outside politely said, "Thank you."

"For now, how about we focus on finding this Trickster before anybody else gets hurt?"

Silently, Barry gave a nod and forced himself to go at a normal pace outside the room. Right now, he just couldn't stand being near Dr. Wells.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, Bells?" Iris quietly approached Belén by the printer.

Belén pressed the printing button and glanced at her friend, immediately noticing the timid demeanor in Iris. "Hey girl, what's up?" Iris opened her mouth to say what she wanted but at the last moment closed it and plastered a little, fake smile. "Iris?" Belén tilted her head, gesturing her to say what she needed to.

Sighing, Iris took a discreet look around in case anyone would hear. When she spoke, it was still quiet. "Have you heard anything about Mason?"

"No, I'm just as lost as you are," Belén shrugged, glancing to see if her papers were printing out correctly.

"Yeah, well, I talked to Eddie about it at the CCPD but he's got a load of work because of that Trickster guy so Mason's case would be last priority," Iris then bit her lip while nervously smiling.

"I feel like there's a favor to be asked," Belén said after seeing Iris' face.

Iris stepped a little closer and spoke even quieter, a faint whisper merely. "Do you think you could ask the Flash and the Azalea to look into it?"

"I-I'm sorry?" Belén was caught off guard by this question that she nearly dropped her papers she'd been picking up from the printer.

"I know it's a humongous favor and I will owe you big time but I'm just really worried here," Iris tried her best to sound reasonable. "When Mason is on a story, nothing is getting in his way. I mean, he considers threats minor annoyances."

"I know that," Belén nodded her head, "But...to ask the Flash and the Azalea? I don't...I don't know…"

"It's the best idea considering where the police's attention is at the moment."

"I don't know...I mean, I don't know how to contact them," Belén tried to say but Iris gave her a 'really' expression that shut down that excuse.

"The Flash personally came to give you the story of the week - for sure _he'll_ come if you ask. C'mon, Bells. Look if you don't wanna go then I guess I can just go back on my old blog and see if one of them answers-"

"No!" Belén said far too fast. At Iris' bemused face she tried correcting it in some way. "I mean, I guess I can look into it." She would prefer to keep this call on the down-low. The last thing they needed was for Iris to put herself in danger using that old blog of hers.

Iris' expression flipped like a switch after hearing that. "So then you'll do it!?"

Now Belén was caught back because she knew that was basically what she had said. "Well, um...I mean...I guess...I can give...one a call..?"

"You're such a good friend!" Iris threw her arms around Belén, giving her a ridiculous excited hug which made Belén laugh in the end.

~ 0 ~

"We have got a problem," Belén walked into STAR Labs later that day, surely enough finding Barry, Caitlin and Cisco there.

"You know-" Cisco turned on his chair to face her direction, "-most people say 'good afternoon'."

Belén rolled her eyes and plopped her bag over his lap, continuing her conversation. "Iris just asked me to get in contact with the Flash and the Azalea."

"Really?" Caitlin spoke before Barry could. "She hasn't done that in a long time. I actually thought she forgot about it completely."

"Yeah well, with Mason's disappearance she's up and active again," Belén sighed and now looked at Barry. "I don't know what to do but at that moment I had to tell her okay. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, I know how Iris can get sometimes," Barry walked over and gave her a hug.

"I'm still sorry, I should have told her I would think about it so I could come talk to you about it," she looked up at him. "But my big mouth said I'd call you and I guess me."

"She's not gonna give up until one of us goes," Barry said, thinking about the possible ways this could go.

"So who goes?" asked Cisco curiously.

"Barry," Belén instantly said, earning herself a wide-eyed response from the man. "Can we get a moment guys?" she looked at the other two. "Just a minute, I promise."

"Sure," Caitlin got up first and motioned Cisco to follow her out.

Now Barry didn't need to think twice to know what Belén was going to tell him. And while it was frustrating to go through this again, he understood she was just scared to use her powers around Iris. "You don't want to go see Iris as the Azalea because you're scared you'll lose control, right?"

"That-" Belén pointed at him, "-is why I like you. You're incredibly smart."

Her forced smile didn't fool him. Swaying his head, he came up with an alternative way to approach the same subject. "Or, we could both go and I could keep an eye on you…"

"I wouldn't be comfortable," Belén quietly objected. Her expression wasn't one that was ready to argue the hell out of it. She had decided it already, and was just waiting for him to get on board with the idea.

"First you're scared of training and now you wanna pull back on your time being the Azalea? Bells, c'mon!"

"I don't know what I want to do, Barry, to be honest," Belén admitted for the first time. "I became the Azalea to find my brother but...now my brother's evil so what does it really matter if I stop being the Azalea?"

"Hey it _matters_ ," Barry was looking at her incredulously. "Because when you came to Central City wearing that mask you made a commitment to the people. And Bells, the people love you," Belén scoffed, "They _do_. You've become a part of the city and nobody wants to see her go."

Belén stared hard at the floor, truly thinking about his words and the meaning he put into them. Seconds later she felt his arms wrap around her from behind, actually making her think he gave a mean hug. "Can you just please go for tonight?" she whispered, tilting her head to look at him. "And then...we can continue discussing...I promise."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay," Barry said, although making it a conditional 'okay'. "What's the story?"

"Um…" Belén thought about it for a moment, "...I gave you a call?"

Barry laughed. "So you're just casually going to let it out that you have the Flash's number?"

"Fine - e-mail," Belén shrugged and turned around. "WhatsApp?"

"Now you're just playing with me!"

Belén nodded her head, chuckling. "Maybe a little," she admitted and draped her arms over his shoulders for another hug. "But we better get our stories straight because Iris West is no fool."

"No she is not," agreed Barry and both laughed again.

~ 0 ~

Needless to say that when Iris got a call from Belén telling her it was all set up, the reporter was up and thanking Belén up to who knew what Gods. It was so nice to hear someone happy that Belén didn't mind Iris picking the place for their meeting.

"You still have a key to this place?" Belén was cautious as they both walked into the closed Jitters' in the night.

Iris smiled deviously to herself as she closed the door behind them. "They don't quite know I still have it."

"Shouldn't you - I don't know - give it back to them?"

The response Belén got was a loud laughter.

"Okay, so, um...I don't suppose there's still coffee behind there?" Belén leaned towards the counter in case there was a random pot of coffee she knew was probably not going to be there.

At that moment, Barry sped in through the back door of the place and was careful to stay in the shadows. Iris was stunned to see him again, and while Belén walked away from the counter, the other reporter tried gathering her words so she didn't sound like an idiot.

"Mind my asking but why are we meeting here?" Barry genuinely asked them both while taking a look at the place.

"Ask my friend," Belén replied, chuckling.

"I still have a key," shrugged Iris, although her attempted casual demeanor was not going so well.

"So what's going on?" Barry asked.

"Iris has a problem…" Belén trailed off and glanced back at Iris who'd stayed a bit behind.

"U-um, my coworker, Mason Bridge is missing," Iris remembered the severity of her problem and got over her nervousness. "He's not at home. He's not answering his phone. I mean, it's not like him. I am really worried that something bad has happened."

"Truthfully so am I," admitted Belén after a moment, "I mean, yeah Mason was a bit of a prick but...his job was _everything_ to him. He wouldn't leave it like that."

"I'm...sure he's fine," Barry tried sounding convincing but the look he was getting from Belén told him he was failing. Even in darkness her eyes were burning on him.

And now that he was avoiding her look, Belén detected there was something he wasn't telling her. Without thinking, she stepped towards him, closer, much to Iris' curiosity. "I know Mason - longer than Iris, and definitely more than you - and I know that he wouldn't do something like this.''

"Maybe he's-"

Belén sighed when she saw him going in another excuse attempt. "Will you look into it? ...for me?"

Even if he could show his face at her at that moment Barry knew he probably wouldn't. Those pleading eyes of her was stronger than she knew, and it was already a part of him - a part of the Flash - to help Belén Palayta. Of course he would do it for her.

"For you, anything," he responded in a soft voice.

Belén smiled at him. She couldn't help remembering their first meetings like this, where she hadn't known who he was, and the feelings that perhaps were there at the time. All those reprimands and denying with Nina made her laugh inside. If only she had known then where she would be now.

"Heads up," Cisco's voice in the suit's earpod startled Barry. "Trickster's broadcasting again."

Barry looked past Belén to Iris, the latter now with an unreadable face. "Can I borrow your laptop?"

Iris blinked away her stupor and nodded. "Um, sure. Help…" but Barry sped over in half a second to get her laptop. By the time Iris turned around he was already working at it. "...yourself…"

Belén hurriedly crossed the room to get a closer look at the screen. It was the young Trickster again, making a new recording. This time he stood in front of a wooden box with a drawn picture of a cartoon bomb.

 _"Get ready for the games to begin! I have...a bomb. It's a big bomb. It'll make a big bang and then a big hole and then a big drop in the pop-ulation. But never say The Trickster is not fair. The bomb is somewhere between 52nd Street and Avenue B."_

"Oh my God," Iris covered her mouth in disgust at the new trick on them.

Belén wasn't surprised, much like Barry. He got up quickly and turned to her, both silently agreeing he should he going while she stayed with Iris.

"Be careful okay?" He couldn't leave without saying first.

She nodded her head, slightly smiling. "Of course. But you too."

With a smile of his own, Barry sped out of the building. Belén moved to the computer, barely closing its lid when Iris blurted, "Oh my God! He likes you!"

"What?" Belén tried keeping her widened eyes out of sight while picking up Iris' laptop from the table.

"The Flash - he _likes_ you! Oh my God, that's why he kept coming to you with all the stories," Iris walked straight up to her, wearing a cross of amusement and surprise on her face. "Belén, what he did - all he did - was for _you_. He _so_ likes you."

The laugh that came out of Belén was not one that clearly defended her proclaimed innocence. "Iris, you're just confused."

"Oh no I am not! I was watching you two, and it was...it was like I was intruding on some private meeting," she looked to the side, "Can you imagine what Barry would feel like if he knew this?"

Belén fought the urge to respond with the truth. She didn't want Iris thinking there was some kind of cheating going on. Because if that was the case then she would tell Iris everything right there.

"You gotta be careful, Belén," Iris continued, taking her laptop back. "I mean, he does know you're going out with someone right?"

A quirky smile spread across Belén's face. "Oh, he knows alright. Trust me."

"Good," Iris nodded.

"You're putting way too much thought into this," Belén laughed and made way for the door.

"I can't believe you hadn't noticed!" Iris went after her, still very much in shock. "The frikin Flash _likes_ you! How does that feel!? To have the city hero's heart?"

Belén shook her head, holding the door for Iris, while trying not to laugh. "You're exaggerating. Have I mentioned you're crazy too?"

"No I am not!" Iris exclaimed, and she didn't give up on the topic as they headed home.

~0~

Like the police, Barry was doing his best to find the bomb before it went off. Speeding through, he went through every last building and corner through the streets the young Trickster had covered. At the end, he stopped for a moment to get in contact with the others.

"Guys, I can't find it. I need your help!"

"There's nothing on traffic cams or CCTV," Caitlin reported after an intensive search.

Cisco agreed. "I re-tasked the STAR Labs satellite to scan the area for incendiary devices. A bomb that large should be giving off some kind of thermal or chemical signature."

"Well, then why can't you find it?" Barry asked, rather impatient and frantic.

And then it clicked. "Because it's a trick. The bomb's not there," informed Wells.

"No, it has to be. I'm gonna keep looking."

Wells shook his head. "That is what he wants, for you and the police to keep running around in circles. There is something else going on, Barry. I can feel it. Now, trust me."

Barry thought about it for a short second and decided he really couldn't trust Wells anymore. "I'm gonna keep looking," he declared instead and continued to speed through the streets.

"Barry?" called Wells but the metahuman didn't answer anymore.

Cisco, confused like Caitlin, glanced at Wells. "Why doesn't he just listen to you?"

Barry continued ignoring the others as he went in search of the bomb. He eventually came across an old basement in one of the buildings that contained the familiar box.

"I found it!" He exclaimed and opened up the box. Unfortunately, he found the words 'Tricked you' on the lid inside, and he realized that the box was empty.

It was then that Cisco got a ping from the Iron Heights prison. Looking into it, he discovered it was far worse than usual.

"There's an explosion at Iron Heights!"

Well tried not to sound a know it all but he had been correct. "This was all a diversion. The prison was the real target. James Jesse. I guess he's tricked us all."

Hearing this, Barry quit the basement and got in contact with Joe through the earpod.

"Joe, there's no bomb in this city. It was a diversion so The Trickster could help James Jesse escape."

"I know," responded Joe, sounding grim. "We just got surveillance footage from Iron Heights. Jesse got away. Barry, look, they took a hostage."

Barry frowned, feeling even worse then. If he had listened earlier he would've been there. "Well, who did he take? A guard? The warden?"

"No. Your dad."

~0~

Night had turned into morning, and while everyone at STAR Labs and the CCPD worked long and hard, they were only able to solve one thing.

"We were able to identify the other Trickster," Joe told the rest of the team. "His name's Axel Walker, age 25. Apparently him and James have been corresponding through snail mail for over a decade."

"I should have been there," Barry kept repeating ever since he had entered the cortex. He was beyond furious...and beyond terrified.

"We're gonna find your dad, okay?" Caitlin assured, although she didn't know how her words would go on him.

Barry ignored them as he got up from his chair. "I guess I should have listened to you," he sourly aimed at Wells then left the place in a stalk.

No one blamed Barry for his mood, it was perfectly understandable. Still, there were decisions they didn't quite agree with but didn't voice it. And a while later, one of those decisions walked in.

"Please tell me we have more news on these maniac," Belén walked in holding a cup of Jitters coffee in one hand. As she drank, she noticed the uneasy glances the group was sharing. "What is it?"

"We wanted to call you…" Cisco resorted to an explanation she probably did deserve, "...but Barry said no…"

"To tell me what?" Belén frowned, lowering her coffee and bag.

"Last night we figured out the bomb was a diversion...and James Jesse escaped," Caitlin slowly explained, glancing at the others just to make sure they were all on board.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something worse?" Belén spoke her intuition she now felt at the pit of her stomach.

"He took a hostage with him," Joe said, and like a bandage he ripped it off with the truth. "It was Barry's dad."

Belén's eyes widened till they couldn't. The first few seconds displayed shock but then came the inevitable irritation from not being told right away. "How could nobody have told me about this!? It's mighty important!"

"Barry decided to hold it off for the night," Dr. Wells explained, not that it mattered for Belén was rightly angry now.

"Well, I'm gonna go tell him why that was wrong," she declared, hastily setting her things down at the desk. "Where the hell is he!?"

"You know, maybe it's not the best time…" Cisco began but was promptly silenced with a glare. "He's down in the pipeline,."

With a huff, Belén turned and marched out of the room. Everyone else turned on Cisco with disapproving looks for his easy answers.

"She scares me," Cisco said like it should've been a reasonable excuse.

~ 0 ~

The plan was to scold Barry for his stupid decision and then, ultimately, try and comfort him during the hard time Belén was sure he was going through. But then she found him in the pipeline sitting on the floor alone. She silently walked towards him, feeling her initial annoyance fading the more she looked at him. By the time she reached him, the idea of scolding him had been thrown out the window.

"Hey," she greeted softly, taking a seat on her knees right beside him.

He didn't seem surprised she was visiting him, but he did look nervous. "You know…?"

"Oh that you decided not to tell me your father had been kidnapped last night because in your deluded mind it was much better for me to be in the dark?"

He draped his arms over his knees he'd pulled up and leaned his head on them. "I just...thought you deserved to sleep well for tonight."

"While I appreciate that, I would much rather prefer to be in the know of what's happening in my boyfriend's life. _Especially_ when it concerns his father's life."

"Are you mad?" Barry asked, truthfully a little worried he would now have to worry about that.

"I was annoyed," Belén rolled her eyes. "But I'm letting it slide because you're cute and you have a lot on your plate today."

"I _am_ sorry though," he raised his head but couldn't afford to look at her at the moment. He felt all the fear inside mixing with anger and yet another layer of fear.

"It's okay," Belén rubbed his arm and scooted closer to him. "How are you?"

Barry truly did consider words to voice his feelings but...it became difficult to find the right words that would express them. "I don't...I don't know if my dad's still alive," came out of his mouth. He hadn't realized that his eyes were becoming teary.

"Of course he is," Belén quickly said. "James took your father as proper leverage and that only works as long as he's alive." A couple seconds later she wondered if those had been truly the best words she could come up with. "Plus," she then added, trying lift up the mood, "everyone upstairs is looking to find him."

That was supposed to reassure Barry but now all he thought of was the fact that the person who may have murdered his mother was now dealing with his father's fate. He closed his eyes, releasing a tiny, shaky sigh through his lips.

"I can't...I can't do this…" he struggled.

Belén took that as still regarding his father's situation and three her arms over him, forming a side hug. "We're gonna find him, I promise you. I will go out there as the Azalea if I have to but your dad is coming back. I swear." She planted a kiss on his cheek with a bright smile just for him.

Feeling her touch made him smile. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. Belén saw sad, teary eyes before her and wanted nothing more than to make the pain go away. In roles reversed, she was sure Barry would think the same thing if she were in pain. She had so much she wanted to give to him, and see him happy, and she knew how she would start.

Leaning forwards, she pressed a short kiss to his lips. When she pulled away she sported a tint of pink on her cheeks, but a smile nonetheless across her face. In that moment Barry had never felt so grateful to have something good - particularly this good - in his life. He reached with one hand to brush his fingers across her cheeks. Without warning, he shifted a bit on his side and kissed her again. While it had been a surprise for her, Belén fell into the moment and let it continue for as long as they could.

If only breathing hadn't been an issue.

With a bright red face, Belén smiled sheepishly. "I think...you are definitely my best boyfriend."

Barry made a bemused face at her. "Really?"

"Definitely best kisser," she nodded, chuckling when she practically saw his ego swell.

" _Well_ …" he began, making her laugh even more.

"Okay, I take that comment back," she said when she could talk without laughing. After a short minute she sobered up and took his nearest hand. "Look, no matter what, you are not alone in this. I am here, right beside you."

"Thank you, Bells," Barry said, interlacing his fingers with hers.

"I'm gonna go call work and tell them I can't do tonight's event so that I can stay here," Belén announced, already making a move to get up when Barry protested and pulled her down.

"What event?"

Belén rolled her eyes. "It's not important. The mayor's having a fundraiser and they wanted me, Noah and Iris to visit to get some info."

"That sounds important…"

"It's really not…"

"I don't want you to get into trouble because of me, okay? Please, just go to your event-"

Belén was already shaking her head in refusal. "I'm not leaving you."

"It really would make me feel better knowing you are doing your job that I know _is_ important to you," Barry covered their interlocked hands with his other one. Belén seemed might unsure of this idea but Barry was persistent. "I promise of anything happens I'll call you."

"Barry…"

"I will speed you there myself if I have to," he resorted to warnings, much to her amusement.

"You don't even know where it is," defied Belén.

"Power of Google, my dear, it's very helpful."

Belén sighed in resignation. "Fine. But there goes me trying to be a good girlfriend by sticking with you when you need me."

Barry scoffed. "What are you talking about? I think you _are_ my best girlfriend that I've ever had."

A small giggle escaped through Belén's lips as she remarked, "You've only had two girlfriends before me, Barry, so I don't think it really counts."

Barry frowned. "No more hanging out with Iris."

Belén playfully rolled her eyes and got up, pulling him with her. "You let me know if anything happens okay? No matter what."

"I promise," Barry truthfully returned. Satisfied with his response, she gave him a quick - but meaningful - hug then hurried out.

Watching her go, Barry realized he had felt a little better after her visit. She just had that power on him.

~ 0 ~

In a nice pink, laced dress Belén attended the public mayor's fundraising along with Iris and Noah. The three walked up to the check in table where they showed their work identifications to the check-in people.

"You sure you're okay?" Iris asked her after they had left the check-in table.

"No, but I'm here anyways," Belén responded with nothing but the truth.

"Barry told you it was fine," Iris reminded, accepting a glass of champagne from a young man on the way. "This is your work, after all, and you don't play with it."

"Champagne, miss?" an older waiter man stopped beside with a tray of champagne glasses.

"Thanks," in her distraction she didn't see just who was the waiter offering her the drink. She took the glass and right away took a sip.

Noah took second glass and did the same thing. "Relax, Belén," he distractedly said, not really caring what was going on.

Iris walked over to the mayor she spotted near the platform and began a conversation. Noah remained beside Belén watching the procession, but discreetly noticed her constantly checking her phone. He was sure it had to do something with the Flash considering they still had the runaway prisoner, and more so considering they'd taken her boyfriend's father as a hostage.

Then it hit. An idea.

"You know Belén, this is sort of relating back to my initial thoughts about these metahumans," he began, turning to her. This time she didn't appear angry nor irritated at the least by his comment. "It's bad news - the lot of them. Look what they did to your boyfriend's father."

"Technically, James Jesse is not a metahuman," Belén corrected, still moaning a suave attitude. "He's a regular crazy criminal."

"But he's got the Flash after him and because of it he took some poor man to threaten with."

"This isn't the Flash's fault, Noah. It was...an unfortunate event. And I am sure he is out there looking for Henry Allen."

"They're bad news, and they need to be eliminated at their core."

Now this struck Belén oddly, especially the determination in Noah's voice. She lowered her glass and looked to the side, considering what all this meant. "You mean...like...eliminate the leader? Who would that be exactly?" she chuckled then, shaking her head. "You better not think it's the Flash because that's ridiculous."

"Of course not," Noah responded, well aware he was letting more loose than he wanted. "But he's part of it. He's in league with them."

Belén really struggled not to sound so bias but it was difficult knowing how wrong Noah was. "And in your mind who the hell runs the strings with the metahumans?"

"STAR Labs," Noah wasn't afraid to answer. He looked Belén dead in the eyes, despite her mixture of emotions at the moment, and explained more. "Dr. Wells is responsible for _all_ the metahumans in the first place, as well as all the causalities that followed. Everyone who works there is also at fault for creating the particle accelerator."

Surprise was gone, as well as confusion. All that filled Belén at that moment was nothing but anger. "I'm going to remind you that my boyfriend was _saved_ by those people-"

"-because of guilt," Noah snapped, unable to keep his own biases away. "Need I remind you that it was because this stupid accelerator was created my mother - my last parent - _died_? Belén, even your own father was killed by a metahuman!"

"That had nothing to do with Wells nor STAR Labs!" Belén pointed out, her voice rising so that others were beginning to look at them. "Metahumans think for their selves - their thoughts are not run by STAR Labs. And the fact you think all this is possible really shows me the kind of person you are."

"Oh, really?" scoffed Noah.

"Yes, really," mimicked Belén. "You're not the type of friend I want to have nor work with." Giving him a narrowed look, she walked away before things escalated more.

"Hey-" Iris stopped her near the platform, one hand on Belén's arm, "-what was that all about?" she discreetly nodded towards Noah who'd remained far in the back.

"He's an idiot, that's what," Belén angrily rolled her eyes.

"What he do?" Iris asked in concern, truthfully rarely seeing her friend so worked up about something unless it was important.

"I'd rather not waste my breath on him," Belén answered and plastered a little smile to get by.

At that moment, someone took the stage and the podium. "Welcome, welcome," began the elder man - a James Jesse - who seemed delighted with the turn out of his plans, "Centrla City's finest. How about a toast to Mayor Anthony Bellows? He doesn't just yell at his staff, he bellows!" But hardly anyone in the crowd laughed to his joke. Belén squinted her eyes at the properly dressed waiter, trying to figure out who he was. "You see what I did there with the wordplay and the...tough crowd."

The Mayor had hastily made his way up to the stage to see it all stopped. "Excuse me," he said to James after placing a hand on the microphone, "Who are you?"

"How quickly they forget," James mumbled to his partner - and apparent son - Axel who stood beside him now. He cleared his throat, getting ready to make the presentation of his life. "James Jesse, your honor, aka-" he ruffled his hair and smirked as he faced the crowd, "-The Trickster. And I'm here to relieve you fine people from all your money. Because we know if you're in this room, you've got loads of it."

"Oh no," Belén's eyes widened.

"What makes you think that anyone in this room would give you a cent?" the Mayor seemed to want to laugh at what he thought was an utter hoax.

"Because that champagne they just slurped down like so much fruit punch... I added a little something special to it," James said to the crowd, and everyone began suspiciously looking at their glasses. "Trimethylmercury 32. Poison. Without the antidote, you'll begin to feel the effects in about, oh, um... One hour."

A couple seconds later one man started coughing loudly, and in his stumbles he came forwards to reveal he had some sort of foam slipping through his mouth.

"I remember you," James pointed at him with a widened smile. "You got to the party about an hour early. I offered you the very first glass of champagne."

The man continued to cough until the foam covered his throat. He collapsed on the ground dead minutes later.

James chuckled along with Axel. "An hour is plenty of time for all of you to call your bankers and transfer everything you have to the account number on the bottom of your glass," he gestured to the crowd to get started. "Once my young friend and I are rich, you'll get the antidote. If any of you decide to call 911 instead, well, then we switch to lead poisoning." As a show, he pulled out a gun and raised high in the air to issue the start of the blackmail.

"We'll see about that," Belén mumbled and pulled Iris towards the middle of the crowd where they would hopefully blend in.

"What are you doing!?" Iris whispered-yelled at her when she saw Belén pulling her phone out.

"Shhh," Belén put a finger on her lips as she hit a number. She shifted Iris so that both faced the front and Belén left her phone between them while Jesse continued to talk.

~ 0 ~

"Anything?" Joe asked the three STAR Labs employees who did, truthfully, worked at fast paced on the computers.

"I'm scanning all the traffic cams in the city. I got nothing," Cisco took a moment to look at Joe but quickly got back to the computer.

Barry was at the threshold of the cortex listening to everyone yet not really listening at the same time. The only reason he snapped out of his trance was because he felt his phone vibrating in his jean's pocket. He pulled it out to see Belén's name and answered it.

"Bells?" he answered but received a some indistinct talking from the other side. As he paid more attention, he realized he knew one of the voices that was speaking over everyone else's. "Guys?" he quickly leaned off the threshold and rushed for the desk. "It's Belén's phone but listen…"

Putting his phone on speaker they all heard James Jesse on the other line.

' _How many of you feel the Trimethyline 32 coursing through your veins, hmm?'_

"That's him. That's Jesse," Barry urgently said, realizing Belén was somehow with him and more people.

"Cisco, can you ping her phone?" Joe immediately asked.

"Just find out where the mayor's having a fundraiser," Barry said to Cisco. "She, Iris and Noah are there for their jobs."

"Iris is there!?" Joe nearly lost it.

"I'm on it," Cisco quickly searched for the location.

Meanwhile, Caitlin had been searching for the strange name James had mentioned and came to some bad results. "Trimethylmercury 32 is a relatively fast-acting poison."

"Is there a cure?" Barry panicked.

"Yes," Wells assured. "Yes. We can start synthesizing the antidote right now."

"Hurry - Belén is there and she's...not exactly herself," Barry left it at that for the moment. He knew why she had called him in the first place. She didn't feel confident enough to come out as the Azalea. She needed him. And he was going to help her.

~ 0 ~

Belén had long stuffed her phone inside her bag and kept Iris close to her while everyone called for their bank accounts to be drained. She couldn't find Noah anywhere though. Despite their argument she didn't want him to get hurt.

"I don't see him," Iris said quietly as they continued their search through the crowd.

"Just...keep looking, he has to be around here somewhere," Belén politely moved around a couple who were fervently talking on their respective cellphones.

"Maybe he's just drunk and doesn't even realize what's going on," Iris suggested.

They were now at the front and as they were moving down, James cut in front of them.

"Eugh, what do you want?" Belén took a step back with Iris.

"You know, I've been in prison for 20 years," he informed with a widened smirk, but neither woman was amused.

"Then you'll know the routine when you get sent back," Iris promptly replied, instigating a deep glare from the man in response.

"You're not getting away with it," Belén declared, much to the man's amusement. "The Flash is gonna get you."

"Oh really?" it was James' turn to scoff in disbelief.

"Yes and-"

But James was blasted with a shot of ice that pushed him against the wall across the room. Belén was so stunned that Iris had to pull her back as another blast shot past her.

"I'm gonna need that antidote _now_ ," Azul stood on the platform with his hands glowing blue, indicating there was to be a third blow coming.

"What is _he_ doing here?" frowned Belén. Azul hopped off the stage with eyes trained on James - the latter being surprised of this new metahuman he hadn't been expecting. But as Azul got closer Belén noticed there was something off in his eyes - was he drunk?

"Oh my god he's drunk," Belén mumbled, stepping back with Iris.

"What!?" Iris gaped. What kind of metahuman was this!?

"I said: GIVE ME THE ANTIDOTE!" Azul made to hit again but this time Barry had come in - as the Flash - and blocked him.

"You reek of champagne," he frowned.

"Get the hell out of my way, speedy," Azul went to use his powers but Barry was far quicker and chucked him across the stage.

After making a quick glance to see if Belén was fine he went for the real problem. He grabbed James by the collars and pinned him on the wall again. "Where's Henry Allen?"

James was groggy but not that much to not know when to put the second part of his plan to action. "He's where you'll be soon. Heaven!"

Axel appeared and slapped something on Barry's wrist. When Barry looked down he saw some sort of contraption beginning to beep.

"Are you familiar with the movie Speed?" asked James with a wicked smile. "Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock? See, you're the bus, and that's the bomb. A kinetic bomb, actually, and if you go below 600 miles per hour, it'll explode. Same thing happens if you try to remove it."

"Here we go," Axel declared and flipped a switch on the contraption that lit it up.

"Ooh, it's active. Run, run, run, run, run!" laughed James.

Barry had only a second to think before he dashed out of the building. Belén swallowed hard as she saw her last help leave.

"Great, what happens now?" Iris looked around. "Where's the Azalea?"

The mere question made Belén shake a little. She bit her nail and happened to look down where she saw her phone lighting up inside her bag. She could clearly see the name 'Cisco' on it and panicked even more. She stuffed her things over the cellphone and tried to not to think about it. But as seconds ticked by, minutes ticked by, it was becoming a real struggle. Azul was getting up from the stage, looking ready to fight again. And drunk.

"Someone needs to stop him…" Iris was desperately looking about as if someone else was going to step in before anyone got hurt.

"He's coming back," Belén said as a means of comfort. But the moment Azul struck a bystander in the crowd all calmness went to hell.

"I WANT THE ANTIDOTE!" He shouted, actively searching for the two culprits that merged within the crowd. No one dared leave the building because of the poison, causing even more pandemonium. "If I don't get the antidote people will get hurt - fork it over!"

And to prove his point, he shot mystical ice bits that grazed some of the crowd and actually stabbed someone on the leg.

"Oh my God!" Iris clapped a hand to her mouth.

Belén was, also, horrified that Azul was going to these measures to get the antidote. He truly was out of his mind for the night.

"Where's the Azalea!?" Iris kept her hopes up that the MIA partner would show up.

Belén knew it was useless to reassure that the Flash was coming back to help them. Azul was making his way through, hurting those he passed by. She also kept hearing her phone vibrate amongst the things she carried in her bag, reminding that STAR Labs was still pushing her to be someone she was afraid of.

But even then, she didn't have her suit. If she wanted to keep her identity a secret she would have to... _go green_. That terrified her to the core.

"WHERE IS IT!?" screamed Azul as he came to a stop in the middle of the crowd. Everyone retracted several steps away but he yanked the nearest attendee, a suited man, by the collars. "I guess I'll have to shake it out of everyone until it appears."

From the corner, Belén was able to see James Jesse and Axel trying to sneak into another hiding spot. Due to that, she missed Azul throwing the innocent man back. Iris yelped when the man landed mere inches from her feet.

"How about you princess?" Azul turned on her. "Think we can get some answers if I come for you next?"

Iris felt her feet frozen at the floor from fear. But when she looked down she saw that it _wasn't_ actually from fear. Azul had made ice creep up to her heels and tips.

"I-I don't have anything!" Iris exclaimed, dropping her bag instantly.

"Let's find out who does," Azul said with a warning blue hand.

But at the same time he was struck from the side, across the face, by a thick, green vine that knocked him to the floor. Iris gasped and quickly looked for the source she was already assuming who was the Azalea.

Sure enough, she stood at the other side, with her emerald green, scaly skin. Without her suit she had entrusted her vines and roots to cover it up and at least impersonate some new vine dress. Her pulled hair remained the same but covered in bits of vines.

"Woah, new look," Iris remarked while immediately moving around to return to the crowd.

Belén didn't waste time in talking to her, for she could feel the terrible turmoil inside her. She didn't want to lose control in the middle of so many people. Looking to her right, she thrust a hand forwards, barring James and Axel a clean hideout. "You better give these people their antidotes _now_."

"And what if we don't?" challenged Axel.

Belén raised an eyebrow. Using the same vine, she swatted them like bugs against a wall. " _That_ gets to happen again...and again...and again."

"Watch out!" she heard Iris frantically call to her. She barely had time to process when she felt a blow to the stomach that sent her to the floor, flat on her back.

Azul had gotten up and was ready for some payback. "I am sick and tired of your stupid brother giving you freebies!" He struck her with shards of ice that pinned her to the floor. She hissed at their coldness, and grew even more concerned when she felt a growl trying to escape her lips. "You shouldn't even be allowed to join us," continued Azul, who was now walking for her, "No, you should _die_ like everyone else in STAR Labs. Because you are and will _always_ be in league with them instead of your own _family_!" During his words, he kept shooting at her, although now she was trying to defend herself.

Belén growled and swung a vine towards him, grabbing him by the waist and smacking him to the ground. She could feel her mind frazzling with so many different thoughts and emotions, most of them not in her control. Nearly screaming she entangled him with vines here and there, wrapping him like a cocoon till he couldn't move anymore. Then, wearily, she turned where she had left James and Axel across.

"Your turn," she whispered and made a step forwards when she felt a sharp jab at her arm. "Ow!" the pain she felt snapped her out of early trance, allowing her to see that Barry had returned with an antidote...and thankfully with no exploding contraption on his wrist.

Barry exchanged a look with her, showing he was overly worried and this time so was Belén. Because she remembered this time.

"It's okay. You've all been given an antidote," he addressed the stricken crowd who was left looking from one odd person to the next.

"Over there," Belén pointed Barry towards the two criminals on the floor.

He sped towards them and picked both up."Now where is Henry Allen? You're going to prison either way, James."

"Unless you want me to go all swatty again," warned Belén who was already conjuring up another vine.

Seeing that made James sing like a canary.

~0~

"Now I want you to take it easy alright?" Caitlin warned Belén after securing the last bandage on the side of Belén's stomach. "You don't heal fast like others-"

Belén made a loud, clearly annoyed, sigh. "Yeah, believe me, I've figured that out the hard way." She tilted her head upon remembering certain difficult memories. "Oliver's not very gentle when it comes to body injuries."

Caitlin laughed and returned all her tools to the metal table beside the bed Belén sat upon. When Belén lowered down her blouse, Caitlin called to the rest of the team outside. "She's decent!"

Belén made a face at her choice of words. "I'd like to clarify that I was always decent," she said as she got up.

"You know what I'd like some clarification on," Cisco said the moment he and Dr. Wells came into the room, "is how on earth you didn't get worst hits by Azul?"

"A little clarification on Mr. Allen's words wouldn't be bad either," Wells added, instigating a very nervous reaction from Belén.

"He-he said something?"

"He said you weren't exactly yourself," Caitlin looked down at her with a small smile.

"Let us remind you that you are here so that we can help you, Ms. Palayta," Wells reminded with a pointed look her way.

"Um…" Belén scratched the side of her head.

Cisco walked to her side, swinging a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You know you can tell us anything."

Belén nodded her head. If course she knew that. It was practically embedded in her head. It just didn't mean it was easy for her. "So, um, when I first got my powers...there was this...this _ability_ I could sort of do...that I actually hated. _Hate_."

"What kind of ability?" Wells leaned forwards on his chair to better hear.

"The kind where I go all green with scaly skin type," Belén answered at light speed, leaving Cisco and Caitlin to decipher what she had said.

Wells had grasped her words on the first try and was now experiencing a state of surprise. "You turn...all green?" he gestured with his hand to his face.

"Yes," Belén nodded. "But...but I didn't want anyone to know so I hid it. I hid it deep down and left it there."

"And now it's trying to break free with it controlling _you_ ," Wells concluded within the minute, getting a shameful nod from her in response.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" Cisco asked her, forgetting his surprise to comfort her.

"Yeah," Caitlin put a hand on her arm, "We could have helped you."

"Barry was trying to help me," Belén explained. "But that's sorta when I lost control…"

"What happens exactly?" Wells pushed her to talk.

"I, uh, I lose myself, basically. I go fully aggressive when someone starts attacking me - it's like the trigger I think."

"Interesting," Wells leaned back on his chair, looking far more bemused than Belén would've liked, "A self-preservation trigger."

"A whatta-what now?" Belén blinked.

"Self-preservation - like every man for himself sort of thing," Cisco simplified it for her. "In your case, every metahuman for theirself."

"Well, I'd like to get rid of it," she declared. "It's horrible not being in control of your own body and mind. It's worst knowing that I can hurt people with it."

"That's only because you've kept it buried," Wells clarified her. "If you want to control it then you have to be able to use it whenever _you_ want to, not the other way around."

"It scares me. That's why I'm debating about being the Azalea. Every time I remotely become her, I can feel this other side creeping to the surface."

"Don't worry, we're going to help you control it," Wells promised. "Do you trust us?" He said, no one but him knowing the test laid out before her.

Without a doubt, Belén nodded. "Of course."

"In the meantime," Cisco began walking her out, letting Caitlin and Wells follow behind, "We've got Azul nicely locked down in the pipeline." Although that was bitter news in itself.

"Yeah, I can't believe I just imprisoned my co-worker," Belén shook her head. She felt like an idiot, honestly. Her brother had no doubt set Noah up at CC Pictures to keep an eye on her. She felt disgusted, frankly.

"Noah's not going anywhere, trust me," Cisco assured her.

"I always did say I'd lock them up if I ever got the chance," Belén quietly said. She felt momentary relief when she saw Barry walking into the cortex. She immediately rushed to go up and hug him. "I had to tell them everything," she said, clinging tightly to him.

" _Everything_?"

"That I'm a hideous green monster," Belén briefly explained and pulled away. She realized he hadn't come alone as there was Joe and the man she presumed to be Barry's father. "Is that your father?"

"Yes!" Barry quickly turned around to formally introduce them.

"Well there goes my first impression," Belén hung her head with a long sigh.

"You're fine," Barry rubbed her back affectionately. "Bells, this is my dad," he gestured to his father who was already looking amused by her.

"Henry Allen," the older man reached to shake her hand. "But I'm sure you already know that."

Belén sheepishly shook his hand with a tiny nervous smile. "Belén Palayta, but...I'm sure you already know that, well, I'm a hideous green monster."

"No, you are not," Barry scolded her playfully.

"You really are not," agreed Henry. "You're very pretty, actually."

"I can see where Barry got his good-natured compliments," Belén nudged the man in question beside her. "Are you taking notes for future situations?"

"I like her," Henry told Barry with a chuckle. "And let me tell you-" he now looked at Belén, "-that _he_ -" he pointed at Barry, "-likes you as well."

" _Dad-_ " Barry stiffened, beginning to feel that embarrassment he was sure others experienced when their parents started talking too much around a girlfriend or boyfriend.

"He talks about you a lot," Henry said, more on purpose now.

" _Dad_!" Barry made a cutting motion across his neck. Belén just laughed and curled her arm around his waist, leaning her head on his arm.

"I like knowing this piece of information, thank you very much, Mr. Allen."

Henry nodded, and then, more soberly, said, "And I also heard about your father. I'm very sorry." He was sure this was another reason why his son found comfort with this woman. If it had been the same speedster that killed Nora, Belén was probably feeling the same way Barry had all those years ago.

"Thank you," Belén softly said. "I've been able to get through it thanks to everyone here, especially your son. He's very good at helping people."

Everyone agreed.

~ 0 ~

"Brazil?" Iris couldn't help make the face she was making after hearing what Eddie had come up with after searching for her co-worker, Mason. She shifted on the couch, both currently at her father's where they were to have dinner together. "Why...why would Mason move to Brazil?"

Eddie wanted to sell this story as best as possible, even though he hated the idea of lying to his girlfriend. But, it was what Joe wanted and - apparently - Barry as well. He was still in heavy shock from discovering the latter was the Flash, but now was not the time to freak out. "Apparently there was a girl involved, and he decided to go hike the Amazon with her for a year, you know, live off the grid, write his memoirs or something."

"Wow," Iris looked down for a moment. "I guess you really don't know anyone. Wait till Belén finds out."

And at that moment, her father walked in alone. "Hey, baby, everything good?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," she brushed off the Mason topic, deciding it was enough for now. She got up from couch. "Um, dinner will be ready in a jiff, okay? Is Barry not coming?"

"No, he had a date thing…"

"Okay," Iris shrugged and grabbed her phone from the coffee table before heading for the kitchen.

When Joe was sure she wasn't listening, he went directly for Eddie. "She buy it?"

Eddie sighed. "I think so."

"Keeping her in the dark, it's for her safety."

"That is debatable," Eddie sharply responded, "and we will have that debate. But for right now, what's our next move? How do we figure out what Wells is up to?"

"Right now, we're not sure," confessed Joe. "We need to wait until Barry gets back so we can talk."

Eddie gave a nod, but still openly displayed his disapproval of this plan of secrecy. A part of him wished he hadn't been told anything.

~0~

"Barry, I don't understand, what are we doing here?" Belén said as Barry held the door open for her to walk into the flower shop.

Since it was dark there weren't many people there, allowing almost a perfect glance at every plant being sold there. Barry took her hand and led her direct towards the side near the display window.

"I wanted you to see this," he explained upon stopping in front of a full display of colored Azaleas. Belén's eyes flickered from one flower to the next, bemused by their variety. "I know it's a bit weird to end the date at a flower shop but I promise there _is_ a meaning behind this."

"They're Azaleas," Belén looked at him curiously.

"They're selling them now, all over the city," he began smiling, "And they're doing it in honor of you, Bells."

"... _me_?" she repeated quietly. "But I haven't done anything special…"

"Yes you have, Belén! And I am so tired of hearing you say otherwise. You don't see it because you're scared, and it's normal, but this city _loves_ you. You are their hero too, no matter what you look like. And people want you here. _I_ want you here too."

Belén looked at him a long time, processing his words and feelings. Of course she wanted to be there too, but it didn't take away her fears. Then again, it really wasn't just her in the equation anymore. There was the city who _,_ apparently, yearned for her to continue being their hero. She didn't want to let anyone down. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to be afraid of herself anymore.

"I guess...we have to practice first thing in the morning," she whispered, making Barry quickly smile.

"Absolutely-"

"And I'm talking serious practicing-"

"-sign me up-"

"-with no holding back-"

"Difficult," paused Barry, giving her a look, "But doable. For you."

And so, with a deep breath, Belén agreed to once again continue this new training session with the promise this time it would be effective. After all, this time everyone would be helping her.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sooo...we've caught Noah. Gaah, I just loved writing that flower shop moment so you'll have to excuse my sappy self for it xD

 **For the reviews:**

 **LadyRedStar:** Ugh I love Snart too believe me! He's the total villain-turned-hero package! I thought about putting Belén in the woods with Barry  & Snart but I ultimately decided it wouldn't bring much. Maybe some other time they'll meet again :)

 **GraceEllingson:** Oh my gosh I'm so sorry for the scare! But don't worry, as we speak I'm actually drafting the third story (3rd season) so we have a _lot_ moreBelén/Barry stories to come! And thanks so much for your kind words! :)


	22. The Queen Bee

" _So I just heard something interesting," Belén walked into Barry's lab yesterday in the afternoon._

 _Barry sat at his desk, working on a current case, when he looked up to see her already standing beside him. Her face spelled a mixture of annoyance and confusion. He leaned away from his work to properly give her his attention._

 _Belén cleared her throat before beginning. "I talked to Iris, and, uh, she told me something...interesting."_

" _Interesting?" repeated Barry, still not getting the jist of the problem. But he was sure this was going to end with him being in trouble. "What kind of thing?"_

" _The kind where_ _ **Eddie**_ _has told her not to worry about Mason because he's in_ _ **Brazil**_ _hitchhiking with some girl,"_ _Belén now crossed her arms and settled quite the sharp look on Barry._

 _Yup, he was going to get into trouble. Barry immediately shifted in his chair despite silently telling himself not to blow it. He, Joe and Eddie had all come up with that plan and all promised not to say anything. Somehow, he saw it wasn't going to work for him. "Th-that's...that's weird…"_

" _Yeah I thought so too," Belén agreed with a small nod. "Because…" she started to walk behind Barry's chair, her nails lightly dragging over the tip of it. Barry felt he was in one of the interrogation rooms and this cop was not going to let him go until she learned the truth. Belén leaned down beside him. "Mason would never go to Brazil. He hates it. He once went there for to cover some story and he came back complaining about some stupid bugs. He vowed to never return. And I doubt he would go back for a woman."_

 _Barry met her challenging eyes. She was no cop but the reporter side of her was intense enough to be a cop. "W-well...people change their minds…"_

 _Belén tilted her head in a 'really?' manner. She straightened up and moved to lean against his desk, just beside his chair. "I've known Mason for three years. He doesn't change his mind. He still hasn't changed his opinion on my talent as a reporter. Wanna tell me what's going on before this ends up with me smacking you?"_

" _Um…"_

" _I assure you it's your best option."_

 _Barry gave up with a long sigh. "It's a long story…"_

" _I've got time," she promised him. "I wanna know why Eddie lies to Iris that way and more importantly, why you would belittle not only Iris' intelligence but mine as well thinking you could fool both of with the lie."_

 _"First of all," Barry pushed himself out of his chair, "I did **not** mean to belittle anyone's intelligence. I was doing this to keep you safe-"_

 _"-safe?"_ _Belén frowned. "Safe from what?"_

 _Barry took a moment for himself, considering the two pathways before him. If he kept everything from her, they would definitely get into an argument. They hadn't been going out for very long and he was not interested in creating their first, big fight._

 _So, he spoke._

He told her everything he and Joe - featuring Eddie - suspected from Dr. Wells and how Iris' life had been put at risk from their search for the truth. They had no option but to give Iris a false story just so that she would stop digging into Mason's disappearance. Barry never intended on feeding _Belén the same lie._

" _So you're saying…" Belén now freely walked about in the lab, thinking, "...that Dr. Wells is this...Reverse-Flash?"_

" _Shh!" Barry rushed up to her and gently covered her mouth. "We can't discuss it here, it's dangerous."_

" _Sorry," she lowered his hand. "But, okay, just for clarification, why do you believe this again?"_

" _When Wells was talking me through phasing so I could get the Trickster's bomb off my wrist, the way that he described my being The Flash, running, feeling the wind and the power, it's like he was talking from experience. I_ _ **know**_ _it's him." Barry knew what he said sounded completely ridiculous, but he knew in his gut that it was true._

 _Belén thought it was ridiculous - the idea that Dr. Wells was actually an evil man who murdered Barry's mother? It was ridiculous; it was a fact. But_ _Belén also knew that Barry wouldn't just throw this accusation at the man he basically idolized for God knew how long. He wouldn't come up with all this if he wasn't 100% sure of it. She could see even now, when he explained, that it pained him to admit that he'd been working with the man who murdered his mother, who destroyed his family...who murdered her father._

 _"So...how do we get him?" she asked in a determined stance._

* * *

Belén spent countless nights thinking about that conversation with Barry. He disclosed everything he, Joe and Eddie had in their case against Wells. It made her _sick_ that she'd felt support and affection for the man who murdered her father - the murder Wells had expressed condolence for. She made fistful grabs of her blanket as she turned to the side and looked at the bed stand where her family portrait stood. Her family was no more, and Dr. Wells took a big responsibility in that with his Particle Accelerator.

She forced her eyes shut and prayed that she could get some sleep. She already had an idea of what she would be doing the next morning.

~ 0 ~

Noah had seen better days. Granted his double life was difficult sometimes to maintain, but at least he could freely go to one place and the next. Now his days were pretty predictable living in a squared prison beneath the frikin ground. So when he felt his entire compartment begin moving forwards, he quickly got up and moved towards the wall where he could see light getting closer. He took quite the surprise when he spotted Belén waiting with crossed arms and a grim face.

"Well…" he had only managed to say when Belén cut him off, her voice unusually cold.

"Let's cut the crap and go straight to the point," she stepped forwards, glancing back to see if anyone was passing by the pipeline. "You and your crew have hated STAR Labs and everyone in it. Why?"

"We told you why. The Particle Accelerator ruined each of our lives. I lost my mother in the chaos, Plasticine lost her partner, Pixel lost her sister...and do I even have to say what your brother lost?"

"Who are they?" Belén's question came in fast and demanding, not sounding like a question really. It was more like a command and it made Noah smirk. "Who's Plasticine? Pixel? Say something!"

Noah brought a finger to his lips, still wearing that annoying smirk. "I'd rather wait till you find out on your own. I just wish I could see your face when you do."

Everything that Barry had told her about Wells was coming back to her and it just made her even angrier. People truly loved to mess with her and her friends. Did they have a sign on their faces saying 'come and mess with us, please' or what?

"There's something else," Noah tilted his head. He was studying Belén while the woman was in her pensive state. He'd worked with her long enough to know that she was harboring something else. "I make you mad but there's something else that's making you even _more_ mad...what is it?"

"You, my brother and your stupid team is enough to make me angry for ages," Belén meant every word. "Every day I have to live with the fact my brother is off committing crimes for fun. You think that's easy?"

Noah gave a carefree shrug. "Eh, if you knew these days he's not really doing much." Belén raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what he meant. "Those powers of his are messing with his head."

"What do you mean?"

Noah sensed the interest and immediately shut down the topic. If he was going to remain in prison, then would at least keep something over her. "Nothing."

Belén scowled. "What's wrong with my brother!?"

Noah's snort irked her even more. She never realized how annoying he was. " _Now_ you want to know about your brother? He's been wanting you to join him and you've dissed him at every opportunity you got. And for what? Speedy in red?" Belén's scowl grew and deepened, but it just made Noah smirk. "You think I didn't notice? I wonder how your CSI boyfriend would react if he knew his girlfriend had a thing for another guy?"

Belén pursed her lips, forcing herself not to laugh at him right there. It was better if Noah hadn't made the connection Barry was the Flash, but it didn't stop being funny. "Listen Noah, with you here I _know_ the others are going to come after my team and I. So, I'm going to make sure they all end up here to keep you company...in different pods, of course."

"That include your brother?"

"I told you I'd lock him if I have to and with what you told me, it sounds like Rayan really needs to be at STAR Labs for his own health." Belén didn't want to hear more from him so she shut the pipeline down.

She watched him disappear into the pipeline and couldn't help feel prickly tears fill her eyes. The feeling of betrayal wasn't a new feeling for her, but it didn't mean it hurt less. This had been her co-worker, and granted they've had their differences...but she never would've guessed he would turn out to be one of her enemies. It just seemed like everyone was betraying them.

~ 0 ~

CCPD was brought upon a curious murder case in a University parking lot. Barry had finished taking what he needed to come up with a reason for death when Joe came by. The corpse of the woman had been placed into a gurney with only her face visible - full of purple, sizable bumps - as the rest of her body had been placed into a proper bag.

"Victim's name is Lindsay Kang, engineering professor at Hudson University. Just got tenure," Joe explained what he had learned from the witnesses.

"Her whole body's covered in these puncture wounds you see on her face," Barry gestured to the woman's face. "Bite marks maybe. Whatever it was, she must have gone into anaphylaxis."

Joe leaned forwards to get a closer look and immediately went wide-eyed. "Daaaamn."

Yeah. The blood sample should tell us everything we need to know. I'll run tests back at my lab."

"They can do it faster at STAR Labs," Joe gave him a pointed look for his odd behavior.

Barry shifted in his spot, thinking it was obvious why he would be reluctant to take everything to the place now. "Well, yeah, but, I mean, it's just…it's kind of weird being there right now."

"Barry, you know we have to play it cool with Wells. If he finds out we suspect him…"

"I know. I get it," Barry assured, but sighed. "I just think that we should tell Cisco and Caitlin. They could help us."

Joe shook his head in disapproval of this idea. "The more people who know, the more chance Wells is gonna find out we're on to him. Don't think I'm too happy you told Belén about this. I mean, what if one of slips up? Or panics? Or what if…"

"What?" Barry arched an eyebrow.

"What if they're not on our side?"

"Wait," Barry stepped back. "You want me to _consider_ the idea that my friends - that my _girlfriend_ \- are involved in whatever he's planning?" he honestly couldn't think of a more ridiculous idea than this one.

"I mean, Wells is Caitlin's and Cisco's boss, their mentor. They've been with him for a long time. I've seen plenty of people make the wrong choice for loyalty. Please do not include them until we can be sure."

Barry hated when Joe made sense like this. But still, he refused to believe it all. "Belén met everyone after me. She came in afterwards. It's impossible for Wells to even consider she would have more loyalty to him than me."

"Okay," Joe relinquished that idea after deeming it logical, "And Cisco? Caitlin?"

Once again, Barry despised this logical side. "Fine," he mumbled and walked away.

~ 0 ~

Belén was pouring herself some coffee from the refreshment table at work when Iris approached her.

"Hey Bells," she greeted and received a very quiet 'hello' back. Considering she herself was having problems, it wasn't very difficult to figure out Belén had some of her own. Iris leaned forwards to catch Belén's falling gaze on the table. "Hey? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Belén snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her friend, plastering on a smile for the sake of no more questions. "But um, what's wrong with you? I, uh...I hear there's some...things happening between you and Eddie?"

Iris made a small noise that basically told Belén the rumors were true. She reached for a styrofoam cup on the table and poured herself some coffee. "Hmph, lately Eddie's been very distant with me. I get the feeling he's hiding something. I mean, I try to get him to talk to me but he keeps giving me these lame excuses. Sometimes-" she paused just as she was about to pour sugar into her cup, "-he doesn't even give me an excuse. He just goes 'uuuh' and leaves." She rolled her eyes and dumped more sugar than was needed into her cup. "Can you believe that?"

"I mean, cops…" Belén bit her lip nervously, "...they're so...complex...and weird. That entire business is skewed."

"It isn't," Iris disagreed with a shake of her head. "Does Barry tell you things? Like...what he's feeling?"

"Um…" Belén tried finding a honest answer that wouldn't release anything that shouldn't be, "...sometimes I have to ask him...over and over...at times, I have to interrogate him. See? They're just like that. There really is nothing to worry about." And at this moment Belén hated herself for lying straight to her friend's face, the friend who had helped her through so much. Feeling overwhelmingly guilty, Belén gave a widened smile and hastily walked away.

On her way to her desk, she happened to pass by Noah's...and her feet seemed to stop automatically. The days were passing and people were beginning to notice Noah's absence at work, but thankfully no one had gotten through to anyone of Noah's family. It made Belén conclude that he truly didn't have anyone. It also made her realize that his place had to be empty too...and with no one there to guard his things…

She plopped down on Noah's desk before she knew it. Knowing where most of his things were, she went directly for the last drawer on the bottom of the desk, hoping to find a clue of where he lived. She couldn't believe that in all this time she hadn't bothered asking him where he lived in the city. It proved she really didn't know him.

How could she have been so ignorant?

~ 0 ~

Going against his primary instincts, Barry had brought the case to STAR Labs for the others to look at it and offer up different opinions. They had pulled up the profile of Professor Kang on one of the computers on the wall.

"Death by apitoxin," Caitlin said, sounding a bit bemused. "Honeybee venom."

Unlike her, Cisco was almost glued to the spot he stood as he stared at the profile. "Bees," he pretended to shiver. "Why did it have to be bees? Y'all, I don't do bees. Ain't nobody got time for bees."

"But when a honeybee stings, the stingers are literally torn from their abdomen, and they die," Caitlin said as she took a look at the tablet she held which contained the apparent evidence of murder of the woman. "But there were no stingers in the body and no dead bees in the car. A honeybee can only deposit .1 milligrams of apitoxin when it releases its stinger."

"And yet, Ms. Kang was found with enough venom in her system to kill a herd of elephants," Wells recalled the information. "It appears not only is a meta-human controlling these bees but also increasing their toxicity."

"Bees communicate by releasing pheromones. Maybe this meta's controlling them through secretion?" elaborated Barry.

"Anyone want to join me in getting a beekeeper suit?" Cisco said, eyes still glued to the screen.

"I'm pretty sure I can outrun a bee," Barry smirked.

"Just don't run into a lake," said a very familiar voice from the entrance. Everyone turned to find Felicity Smoak standing there with one of her quirky smiles. "Bees will wait for you to come up for air and then they'll sting you. Discovery Channel. Turns out there's a lot to discover."

While everyone was pleased to see the blonde techy, Barry couldn't feel this was the worst time possible for her to make a visit. "Felicity, what are you doing here?"

Felicity thought her answer would be better suited outside. "Can you guys come outside for a sec?"

Five minutes later, everyone stood outside the building waiting for whatever it was Felicity was going to show them. But then passed on more minutes and nothing happened except Felicity staring into the sky.

"What exactly are we waiting for, Ms. Smoak?" asked Wells after a decent moment passed by.

Felicity beamed at the sight of a figure in the sky. "Up there!"

Caitlin squinted her eyes trying to get a clearer look. "Is that a bird?"

"It's a plane," Cisco said, making a face as the figure grew closer.

A man in a metal red and gray suit came to a rather wobbling landing on the ground, actually making several cracks from the force.

"It's my boyfriend," Felicity anxiously announced, gesturing as the man removed his helmet.

"Hi," he beamed a flashy smile. "I'm Ray."

~ 0 ~

Meeting Ray Palmer turned out to be quite an interesting sight. As soon as he got his suit off Caitlin took him in for a check up while Cisco and Dr. Wells began examining his suit.

"So...he seems a little tall for you," Barry remarked as he and Felicity watched Caitlin and Ray behind the glass wall of the side room.

Felicity faked a small gasp. "Barry Allen, are you jealous?"

"He better not be," Belén surprised them both with her presence. She'd come in taking quite a surprise by their new visitors.

"I'm not!" Barry exclaimed defensively, raising both his hands.

"That's what I like to hear," she came by his side and pressed a kiss on his cheek. Then she turned to Felicity wearing her first expression after hearing of the blonde's arrival. "Felicity, what are you doing here!?"

Felicity chuckled and gave Belén a hug. "My boyfriend-" Felicity jerked a thumb towards the room Ray was in, "-needed some help with his suit-" she then gestured to the ATOM suit on the metal table.

Belén looked into the wall for a better glance at Ray Palmer and was deeply impressed. " _He's_ your boyfriend?" Felicity nodded her head. " _Wooooow._ "

"Ahem?" Barry coughed, making a face at her dazzled face.

"Hi," Belén smiled at him, in the dark of his brief moment of jealousy. "Now sh. He's cute...what is he exactly?" she asked Felicity.

"Businessman - really rich businessman."

" _Daaaamn_ ," Belén looked to the side as if she were it considering this for herself.

Barry could not believe her and waved one hand in front of her face. "Hello!?"

Belén looked up in confusion. "Barry, I already greeted you."

Ray and Caitlin emerged from the room after a nice check up that bore no consequences as far as Caitlin saw.

"Ah, well, my ears popped, so that's something," Ray cheerfully said.

"You're lucky you didn't break your neck," Caitlin felt the need to point out. "What is it with billionaires being superheroes?"

"I think they get bored," Belén said in thought then looked at Ray. "Did you get bored? I'm Belén, by the way."

Ray laughed but shook his head to answer her. "Ray," he shook hands with her.

"So have you... picked a name yet?" Cisco inquired afterwards.

Ray nodded excitedly. "I'm kind of partial to The Atom."

Cisco squinted his eyes at the name, not quite feeling it. "Sooo, you married to that, or...?"

Wells turned away from the wall computer after a thorough examination of the suit's compartments. "Your ATOM suit... it's quite the technological achievement, Mr. Palmer. I'm impressed."

"And he is never impressed," Caitlin added afterwards with a tiny smile.

"Well, thank you, but I can't quite seem to keep it up," Ray had innocently said, prompting Felicity to run for him to clarify.

"He means the _suit_!"

Ray quickly went to clarify as well. "Yeah, I mean the _suit_."

Barry's eyes widened in horror as the two continued trying to clarify what they'd been referring to. Belén giggled and buried her head in his chest, hoping to god they would just stop talking.

But they didn't. It seemed like they were incapable of it.

"I can attest that everything else works just fine. There's nothing we need to fix in…" Felicity clicked her tongue, "... _that_ area."

"No, no, no. The sex is great," Ray sounded like he was letting his words tumble out before he thought of them completely.

"My God, there's two of them," Caitlin whispered to Cisco but she was heard by everyone else.

Ray shook his head, paused for a moment to recollect his thoughts, and explained himself completely. "I know from Felicity that you have been very helpful with Barry and the Flash suit, and I was hoping to get another set of eyes on my...problem…"

"Please don't continue elaborating," Belén pleaded when she saw Ray opening his mouth again. "We really do understand what you're trying to say."

Wells jumped in as well before anything else was said. "Any friend of the Arrow's is a friend…"

" _Hell, yes_!" Cisco interrupted excitedly.

"Uh, guys. We kind of have a lot going on already," Barry made the unusual call for everyone to slow down. "There's the meta-human killer that can control a whole swarm of bees?"

"Cool," Felicity blinked.

"There's a what now?" Belén looked up at him like he was crazy.

"You missed news," he explained distractedly to her and consequently missed her frown.

"I'm sure Caitlin and I will provide ample support, Barry," Wells assured, not that it mattered to Barry. His words meant nothing now.

"And I will be happy to sit this one out," Cisco raised a finger.

Seeing Barry was overly disappointed - because he was beginning to see what Joe was talking about in regards to loyalty - Belén stepped up for the job. "I can help," she volunteered cheerily.

"Thanks Bells," he smiled softly at her. He gave a kiss to her hair and looked at the others, meeting Felicity's eyes. The blonde was even more wide-eyed at them now.

"Ray, why don't you stay here and work on your suit while Barry, Bells, and I run to Jitters for some java?"

"Sounds like a plan," Ray shrugged, glancing at Cisco to see if it was alright with him. Cisco gave a thumbs up and turned for the suit to continue the examination period.

"I, uh….can't," Belén said once they began heading out of the cortex. "I've got, um...a work thing…"

"Oh, you can't go later?" Felicity made a small pout with her lips. She really wanted to know how Belén had advanced in her powers dilemma, plus she wanted to know _when_ the hell she and Barry ended up together.

There was a nervous flicker in Belén's eyes that neither Felicity nor Barry noticed. Belén shook her head, gripping the strap of her bag as she picked up her pace. "I really have to do this today - but I'll catch you guys later okay? We can work on that bee problem."

Being who he was, Barry watched her leave making a mental note to discuss this with her later...because he was sure there was something she wasn't telling him. Felicity didn't give him a chance to think more about the subject as she practically dragged him to Jitters for that pending conversation.

When they received their orders from the counter, Felicity got straight to business. "You know I left Starling City to get away from the mood and brood, but it looks like it followed me here." She sipped her cup while narrowing her eyes Barry, prompting him to speak now.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's like I said before, now is not the best time," Barry was running out of ways to structure that sentence. He didn't want to tell Felicity anything that might put her danger.

Felicity sat down at an empty table and watched him take a seat across her. "Barry, I have been through enough with you to know when you're holding something back. Is this because I told Ray your secret? Because he is trustworthy, Barry. He wants to help people, just like you."

"I know, that's not what I'm worried about. It's... I really don't want to put anyone else in danger."

Felicity scowled and put her cup down. "In danger of what?"

Eddie chose this moment to approach their table, but in his defence he had quite the problem himself. "Barry, hey."

"Eddie, hey. You remember Felicity," Barry gestured to the blonde who gave a small wave and took to her coffee.

But the more she looked at Eddie, she realized - and was not remotely surprised - to see the similar expression on his face as Barry's. "What is wrong with you? Is everyone in Central City in a bad mood? I thought Central City was supposed to be the fun one."

Eddie gave a tilt of his head, muttering, "It's, um... It's not…"

"Felicity knows," Barry said once he realized Eddie was trying to be incompsicious.

"Wow," Eddie glanced at the blonde. "So everyone but Iris?"

"It feels that way…"

Eddie sighed and turned to Felicity for some honest answers. "How do you lie to everyone you care about?"

Felicity made a humming sound as she thought. "For starters, don't think of it as lying. Think of it as protecting her from getting hurt... with a fib."

"But Iris can tell I'm hiding something, and it's putting this distance between us!"

"I have an idea. Why don't we all go to dinner tonight?" Felicity suggested, glancing at Barry. "We can get Belén to come too. A little wine and dine is sure to bridge the gap. Come on, we all had fun last time."

"Suuure," Barry mumbled under his breath, thinking this dinner would be full of awkwardness and deceits.

"It'll be fun, I promise," Felicity said to both men when she saw their grim faces for her idea.

~ 0 ~

"He's not going to answer, darling," an elderly woman with short, white hair said after hearing the first knock on her neighbor's door. "Hasn't been back for days now. Probably out doing God knows what. Youngsters," she chuckled and went inside her own apartment.

As soon as the woman had locked her door, Belén stepped impossibly close to Noah's apartment door. She placed her hand on the doorknob and put all her focus on getting one of her vines - an extremely small one - to go through the locks. Having no key was a pickle, she admitted to herself, but not impossible for the Azalea. The moment she got the lock picked she stepped right inside and shut it as quietly as possible, locking it too.

She turned around to face quite an unusually clean apartment. Her bag was left to drop right on the carpet floor as she stepped further inside. Her eyes passed over the dull, gray walls that held several family portraits she assumed had been Noah's family. Getting a closer look at them, she saw an older blonde woman she suspected was Noah's deceased mother.

"If she could see you now, Noah," Belén whispered and turned away from it. She stopped by the coffee table that held several papers, some of them - she realized - were newspaper clippings.

She sat down on the couch for a moment as she siffled through them. Very quickly she discovered they were news about the particle accelerator before it had been activated, then its aftermath including cases of missing people. She paused at some of the obituaries.

"Lucianna," she read aloud the name of Noah's mother. She'd died in an accident caused by the particle accelerator. Belén sighed and lowered the clipping to her lap to think.

Noah's mother had died because of the accelerator and somehow, he too had gathered powers. What she wanted to know was how the hell Noah came in contact with Rayan. If she got lucky, she could even discover who Plasticine and Pixel were. She kept the clipping on her lap but continued to go through some more. Seconds later she began to see trends: most, if not all, were about the Flash and Dr. Wells. There was nothing about her and Belén wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. She remembered something about being 'off limits' apparently thanks to her brother.

~ 0 ~

Barry had just finished his coffee when he felt his phone vibrate in his jacket's pocket. He took it out and saw Cisco's text. "Another bee attack. Folston Tech."

Eddie nodded his head, making a move to leave. "I'll see where Joe is!"

"I'm gonna call Bells," Barry said as he too got up to leave. He dialed her number when Felicity gave a very poor call.

"Bee careful!"

Barry turned around with a face. "For real?"

Felicity winced. "Bad pun. Sorry. Just don't die. Same for Bells."

Barry shook his head and went off, still trying to reach Belén on the phone.

~ 0 ~

Inside her bag - still on the floor - vibrated Belén's cellphone. The woman in question however, was moving through the clippings that now had a lot of Phantom's latest crimes of that week.

"What was your obsession with her…?" she couldn't understand as she flipped through them. There was plenty of Phantom's odd robberies that included milk and other various snacks. She remembered her previous investigation and how stumped she was when she saw the things that Phantom would steal. She gathered the clippings into one neat pile and left it on the couch where she would come back for them after finishing the rest of her search.

Her phone continued to vibrate as she walked into the hallway. This time the call rang from Cisco.

Belén walked into Noah's bedroom that had been left unmade. She looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

She extended several vines from her palms that did most of the job for her. Drawers were opened and ransacked, closets were opened and clothes were sifted through - everything was going to be searched through.

~ 0 ~

Barry had arrived at the building in trouble where people were already running out in terror. He'd come straight to the office of the man but found he was too late as the man's corpse was languidly lying on his chair.

"I'm too late," he spoke into the suit's comm.

"Where are the bees?" asked Cisco who thought it should be a number one priority.

"I don't know. There's no sign of them," Barry said after a quick look around. But then he began hearing a small buzzing noise he configured to be of a bee's. He leaned forwards after seeing something poking out from the man's mouth. One bee came out...and then a swarm did. Barry stumbled back. "Found them."

Not a minute was wasted in him getting away. However, the swarm of bees chased after him.

"Uh - how do I get out of here?" he called for his friends' help.

"Take the northeast crossway. It's the quickest way out of the building," replied Cisco not a moment after.

Barry followed the instructions but came to a glass wall where more of the swarm was already waiting for him. "Guys, they're everywhere. I'm surrounded!"

He looked around and saw many more bees coming for him. Seeing no other way out he decided to go _through_ them, despite it costing him parts of his skin. He felt many of the pricks on his face and parts of his suit, but he managed to find another exit through the back, downstairs.

As soon as he made it out, he collapsed on the ground. Thankfully, Joe had made it to the site in time to see him get out. He got out of the car and ran for Barry. He could tell he was unconscious and when he checked for a pulse he was terrified to find there was none. He pulled out his phone and dialed for Cisco's number then placed it on the ground beside Barry.

"Barry, stay with me!" he began performing the first aid rituals in which both hands pushed on Barry's chest. As soon as the call was picked on, he shouted. "Cisco! Barry doesn't have a pulse."

"Step away from him!" Cisco exclaimed, running for the desk.

"What!? Why!"

"We need to jumpstart his heart. There's a defibrillator in the suit," he quicky set up the program on the computer and let Wells take over.

Caitlin stepped behind him and gave the command. "Charge it to 360 joules."

"Charging in three, two, one!"

Back in the field, Barry's body did a jolt as a the surge of electricity went through. Still, he remained unconscious.

Knowing it didn't work, Caitlin gave a second command. "Hit him again. 400 joules."

"Charging in three, two, one!"

The second jolt of power did it for Barry. He awoke with a deep gasp and began coughing. He didn't really remember quite what happened but he was sure it would come back to him eventually.

As soon as he made it back to STAR Labs, Caitlin took him straight to one of the exmination side rooms. He had come in with sizeable bumps on his face - one that had made Cisco declared to stay far away from him for the time being - and Caitlin wanted to make sure he was alright.

Afterwards, Cisco had taken a look at the suit and was forced to come to the conclusion that it no longer worked. "That is it for the defibrillator. It is completely fried."

"You're lucky to be alive, Mr. Allen," Wells shook his head.

Felicity was giving Barry a very serious look as she reminded him, "I was very specific that you _not_ die."

"Yeah, that's a pretty big thing for her," Ray mumbled.

"Cisco, what happened out there?" Barry glanced at his friend, completely puzzled. "I followed your directions exactly."

"I'm sorry. I led you the wrong way. The schematics that we had, they... they weren't up to date."

Barry frowned. "What, they weren't up to date? What do you mean? That's never happened before."

"What, you think Cisco was trying to get you killed?" Felicity meant as a joke but chose the absolute worst time to use it.

"No. Why would he do that? That doesn't make any sense," Barry frantically looked around, unable to keep hearing Joe's words run through his mind.

"I know. That's why I was joking," Felicity tilted her head at him.

"Barry, it's our job to protect you, and today, we failed, but that'll just serve as a warning for all of us to be more vigilant in the future," Wells managed to continue being calm despite the awkard silence that had followed.

"Good news... the apitoxin is out of your body," Caitlin declared as she studied the results of his check up on her tablet. "Your levels are back to normal."

"Terrific," Barry sped out of the place and returned a second later wearing a gray suit with a white, buttoned up shirt. "Ray, Felicity, Bells and I will you for dinner-" he paused and looked around, "Where the hell _is_ she actually?"

"I don't know man, we called like crazy for her to come help you but she never answered," Cisco shrugged his shoulders, giving off his light worriment over the woman.

"We tried calling her home too but no one answered either," Caitlin felt the need to add.

"I'll find her," Barry nodded, determined to figure this little issue out as soon as possible.

"You know Barry, we could just cancel-" Felicity began to say when Barry immediately shut her down.

"I'm fine. Alive. Hungry. All right?" he shrugged. "We'll see you there. I've gotta find my missing girlfriend." And with that, he sped out of the place, leaving everyone with no choice but to continue with their pre-made plans.

~ 0 ~

Belén had everything she had taken from Noah's place spread around her bed. She had her bedroom door locked in case Maritza - or even Axel - decided to barge in. Clippings where everywhere along with other papers and...even a laptop. Yes, she had even brought Noah's laptop with her. It would've been grand...if she could figure out the password on it.

"C'mon!" she growled and banged on the side of the computer after another failed attempt of logging in. "How can I figure out what you're up to when I can't even get into the frikin computer!?"

The tapping on her balcony door made her jump in her spot, gasping loudly. On instinct she shut the laptop's lid and looked up to find Barry making a gesture to let him in.

"Uuh…" she slowly got out of her bed and looked down at her mess. If Barry saw any of it she would be in a full-on interrogation session. She grabbed a blanket set against the wall and dumped it over everything.

Afterwards, she rushed to go open the balcony door.

"Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere," Barry said as soon as he got inside. "I went to the park, to your work, made a fool out of myself in front of Linda Park-"

"-not a surprise," Belén couldn't help flash a little smile at him. Linda had taken to making fun of Barry after discovering he got flustered really easily.

Barry rolled his eyes. "And then I went to your old college just in case, followed by your community theater meeting - which I have to say I don't quite like-"

"Wha - now wait a minute," Belén crossed her arms. "I love that place."

"I don't like those guys that stare at the girls-"

Belén laughed. "I can assure you it's all platonic. We're a team - well, I'm kind of a special team member but-"

"Bells," Barry cut her off laying a hand on her arm, "Where the hell have you been? Everyone tried calling you earlier and you didn't answer. There was another attack today and a man died. _I_ almost died."

Belén gasped. "Oh my god, are you okay!?" she quickly looked him over for any signs of physical injuries.

"I'm fine now," Barry took hold of her arms and captured her attention, "But I'd like to know if you are."

"M-me?"

"I know you're doing something behind my back - behind everyone's back. You weren't doing a work thing, I know because I asked Linda."

"I...I was…" Belén pulled away from his hold and walked a couple steps away. "It doesn't matter," she shook her head. "What are you doing wearing a suit?"

"We have a dinner date with Felicity, Ray, Iris and Eddie tonight," Barry responded and went after her, gently grabbing her by the arm and turning her back to him. "But you still haven't answered my question. "What have you been up to, Ms. Palayta?" he tried being fun with her but she couldn't find it in her to follow his game.

"Like you have your secrets, I'd like to have mine," she came out with instead. Barry was taken aback by her so blunt response. "At least for the moment," she added with a quiet sigh.

"You...you're realize what you're asking me right?" he scratched his head. "You're…"

"It's just for the moment, trust me," she gave him a warm hearted smile he simply could not return.

It was that word that plagued him with terrible turmoil. He didn't realize it would be a problem between him and Belén, until now. Joe's words followed him once more, and for a split second, he had to wonder if he could truly trust Belén at a time like this.

"Just for a bit, I promise," Belén reiterated and gave him a short, sweet kiss. "So, we're having dinner then?" It took a long moment for Barry to force himself to just go with her plan for the moment. He gave a smal nod and watched her backtrack towards her closet. "Fancy restauraunt I imagine if Ray's inviting…" she hummed to herself as she began searching through her closet.

Meanwhile, Barry continued to stare at her, feeling enormously guilty for beginning to consider if he could trust her like she had asked him to. Could he?

~ 0 ~

It wasn't long before everyone met up at the restaurant Ray had chosen for them. Iris and Eddie had been waiting for the two couples at the entrance bar, and it appeared they were having a small disagreement.

"Wow Iris, check you out," Felicity praised the tight, white dress Iris had chosen for the night.

Iris chuckled and looked at Felictiy's bright red dress. The woman had abandoned her usual glasses and curled her hair. "I think we're all looking pretty good," Iris declared, then glancing at Belén. She'd worn a baby-blue, laced at the top, dress and mildly curled her hair for the occasion.

"Guys, this is Ray Palmer," Felicity introduced the man to Iris and Eddie formally now.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Ray shook Iris' hand first then Eddie's.

The lead waiter came in from the grand room inside. "Bienvenue chez Massimo Restaurant. maitre d': Mr. Palmer, your table is ready."

"Great. Shall we?" Ray looked at the rest of the group who nodded, for the most part eagerly.

"Hey, how did he get a reservation here?" Iris whispered to Barry as they walked in. "We've been trying for months."

"I don't know," Barry admitted with a light chuckle.

"Could be the rich part," Belén added from his side with a chuckle of her own.

The waiter led them into an entirely empty restaurant save for one decorated table designated for them. "Here's your table, sir."

"I thought it'd be nice if it was quiet, so I bought out the entire restaurant," Ray cheerfully said to the group was looking far too surprised for his taste. "Too much?"

"Just a tad, sweetie," Felicity patted his arm, looking very unsurprised for this event.

And so everyone took their appropriate seats. After ordering their respective meals, they conversed to pass the time.

"You know, I'm a little surprised that I never got a phone call from you Belén..." Felicity swayed her head in Belén's direction. The woman in question blinked in confusion so Felicity just said it. "I didn't know you and Barry just magically started dating!"

"Oh," Belén laughed shortly and glanced at Barry. The speedster was more strained in his expressions but he did smile at her. "Sorry, I guess we never remembered...?"

"Yeah," Barry agreed. It truly had slipped his mind but in his defense there was a lot going on in his life.

"They were so slow, it was _agonizing_ ," Iris' remark made the two metahumans blush.

Felicity kept her laugh to a minimum seeing the red-faced metahumans. "Well, I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you," both Belén and Barry simultaneously said.

"So how did you two meet?" Eddie inquired from Ray and Felicity.

"Work," both scientists answered him.

"Well, actually," Ray cut in to explain, "I bought the company where Felicity was employed, and so she was forced to join me at Palmer Tech."

Felicity made a face and quickly clarified. "It's not as creepy as it sounds."

"Leave it to you two to make it awkward," chuckled Belén who took a sip of her drink.

Iris, on the other hand, seemed far less cheery than normal. "So you two work closely together?"

Felicity nodded her head. "Mm-hmm."

"Interesting," Iris said innocently, although her gaze was leaning now towards Eddie. "I guess you guys share all of your thoughts and feelings and…"

"Yeah...I share everything with Felicity," Ray said, beginning to get confused.

"It's nice that you guys have that level of communication."

It was then that Ray noticed the tension between Iris and Eddie and ventured to at least try to help Eddie. "Oh, well, no, not every-everything. I mean, sometimes it's good to just shut up."

"I get that," Eddie laughed with him. "Some things are better left unspoken."

Iris frowned at him, almost taking offence to that. "Really?"

Eddie didn't know what to say anymore. Barry spotted the waiters coming by with their food and mumbled, "Oh, thank God. It's the food." He cleared his throat and spoke to the others. "Food's here."

"Our first course on the tasting menu is a quail egg frittata. Bon appetit," the lead waiter placed a plate in front of Ray while the rest attended to the others.

"Barry, I got to admit, I envy you spending so much time at STAR Labs," Ray chuckled as he admitted. "Harrison Wells is, like, a personal hero of mine. I mean, it's amazing just to actually be in the same room with him." Barry nodded very slightly, but his insides were screaming for him to tell Ray how wrong he was. In fact, the more Ray went on, the more sick Barry felt...that and frantic. It felt like a ticking time bomb had been placed and Barry wasn't sure when he would explode.

He got up fast from his chair, like an instinct. "I'll be right back. Just excuse me." His break away from the room didn't go unnoticed.

Belén cleared her throat and put her fork down, giving a small smile to the rest as she stood from her chair. "I...have to go to the restroom," she weakly made the excuse and rushed off in the direction Barry had gone into.

By the time she caught up with him in a winery room, Barry had been pacing back and forth letting his mind fill him with different thoughts.

"Okay, what the hell was that back there?" she tried not to sound angry seeing he was clearly upset himself. He wasn't one to act this way, and she had a pretty good hunch why it was happening now.

"I can't - I can't take it anymore, Bells," he frantically gestured to himself. "Can I - can I trust you? Can I trust _him_? Can I trust Caitlin? Cisco? I don't...I don't know!"

Belén's neat eyebrows rose simultaneously. "You think you can't trust _me_?" it appeared she had been wounded.

Barry felt worse, but he couldn't keep quiet anymore. " _What_ weren't you telling me today? Why didn't you answer your phone when we needed you? What were you doing?"

"I didn't know this was going to be an interrogation," Belén frowned, crossing her arms and pursing her lips together. "At least when I did it, I knew you, Eddie and Joe had lied to Iris but you have no basis on accusing me of anything."

Barry stormed up to her with a ferocity Belén had never seen before. "Just tell me what you were doing so that I can trust you!"

There was flicker of pain that crossed through Belén's eyes, along with the inevitable disbelief. "I'm going to do something," she spoke quietly, swallowing hard, "I'm going to leave, and I'm going to hope that you come to your senses and see how ridiculous you're acting." She shook her head and turned to leave.

The feeling of desperation had never been so high for Barry. He watched her go feeling like the worst boyfriend yet still, on the other side, feeling justified in asking for her explanation. He balled his fists and growled turning away just as she opened the door and left.

On her way out, Belén almost bumped into Felicity. "Woah," Belén shook her head.

"Oh my God thank God you're back - Iris and Eddie are having a bit of a problem," Felicity quietly, and quickly, said to Belén. She nodded back to the table where indeed Iris was once again hassling Eddie for the truth she knew he wasn't telling her.

Belén sighed. "Men are idiots but I'm pretty sure metahuman men are _morons_. I want nothing to do with them tonight."

"What?" Felicity frowned as Belén went past her. She grabbed onto the ombre-blonde's arm and stopped her. "What happened?"

"Iris, please," they heard Eddie pleading, clearly their argument getting no better. Belén turned around in time to see Iris frustrated dropped her napkin and fork.

"Okay, so it's my fault that we're not having a nice evening? I am your girlfriend. Who you live with. I shouldn't have to _beg_ you to talk to me."

"If I could talk to you about this, I would, believe me. But I can't," Eddie was also growing impatient with her.

Iris' eyes filled with tears. "You know what? I am not hungry anymore," she got up from her chair and grabbed her plate. "You know what? When you are ready to act like we are two people who love each other, call me. I'll be at my dad's."

"Iris," Belén hurried towards her friend, grabbing her bag in a hurry, "Wait up. I wanna go home too." Iris seemed surprised of this request, able to realize she'd also had some sort of argument with Barry. Well, Iris wasn't going to judge. She nodded her head, with that look of 'solidarity and understanding', and the two walked out of the place.

Awkwardly, Eddie excused himself as well, calling it a night. Felicity made a gesture with her arms at the disaster this date had turned into. As she turned to Ray, the winery door opened and out came Barry. While surprised to find the table empty, it didn't confuse him as to what must have happened.

"Iris and Eddie had a fight," Ray explained thinking he hadn't yet connected the dots.

"And apparently so did you and Belén," Felicity crossed her arms. "Care to explain?"

"Felicity," Ray gave her a meaningful look. However, Felicity was done asking questions. She wanted answers and she was gonna get them.

"Barry? Explain. Now."

Barry looked between the two and figured what more could go wrong after tonight. With a deep breath, he began his story. "Okay. Joe and I found out that Wells isn't who he says he is. He...he is the man that killed my mother."

Felicity's eyes widened, her arms dropping to her sides. "Oh, my God. But he's been helping you. Get faster, stronger."

"I know."

"Why would he do that?" frowned Ray.

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore, especially who I can and can't trust!"

Felicity raised an eyebrow then. "What? So you think Belén, Cisco and Caitlin are helping him? Barry, that's impossible."

"I keep telling myself that too but then...then I start to doubt-"

"-then stop doubting!" Felicity exclaimed.

"I thought that Wells was a great man, and I was so wrong about him. What if I'm wrong about everything else too?"

Felicity shook her head, the idea far too crazy to even entertain. "Look, I may not know Caitlin and Cisco as well as you do, but I do trust them. And what's more, I _do_ know Belén, and I can assure you - swear my life even - that she's not in league with Wells. She's always been with _you_."

Barry sighed, of course he knew that. But it was that little paranoia bug inside his mind that didn't allow him to see it completely. Hearing his phone, he cut short the conversation. "Uh, emergency at STAR Labs."

Felicity looked nowhere near done, but for the sake of the others she let him go. "Go!"

~0~

At STAR Labs, there sure was an emergency - a _bee_ emergency. Caitlin and Cisco stood back to back, Caitlin holding a fire extinguisher and Cisco a small gray device.

 _Containment breach. Foreign object detected._

Caitlin thought she saw said bee and activated the extinguisher. But, at the same time, Cisco thought he saw it and fired with his device at the desk. A good chunk of the dek vanished into melting metal.

"Did I get it?" Cisco quickly asked and looked around. "I think I got it."

Caitlin wasn't too sure and just held the fire extinguisher for protective measures. "Where is he?"

Wells had come out of the side room, completely calm until he saw the bee heading his way. Well, he wasn't going to allow himself to be killed by an idiotic bee. He'd rather get up. And he was going to do that when Barry sped in and captured the bee in a tiny jar.

"Thank you," he smiled at the metahuman.

Cisco took the jar with the tips of his fingers. "Let's see what makes this bee so poisonous."

"You saved my life," Wells once again thanked Barry, but only god a small nod in response.

Cisco had gotten the 'bee' under a microscope in the side room again. Caitlin leaned beside him and squinted her eyes at the motionless bee.

"That is one odd-looking bee," she mused at the sight.

Cisco soon realized there was more to itm "That's because it isn't a bee at all. It's a _robot_."

"No way," Caitlin took a turn on the microscope to see for herself. "Unbelievable."

"This bot's got a 360-degree vision system," Cisco began to explain as Barry and Wells entered the room. "I mean, we're talking multiple micro-cameras all coming from various angles at the same time. Which means…"

"It can see all around the room at once," Wells concluded. "That is…"

"Amazing," went both.

" _Disturbing_ ," Caitlin sharply corrected them.

"It's also next-gen hardware that's nowhere near the market," Cisco added as they began filing out of the room.

"So we're not dealing with a meta-human?" Barry asked, just to be sure.

"It's just a mad scientist."

"Robot bees?" Belén's voice called their attention to the entrance where she, Felicity and Ray had just come through.

"Can you believe that?" Cisco didn't know whether or not to be impressed or even more terrified of those bees now.

Belén thought about it for a moment then quickly nodded her head. "Actually, I _can_." She walked further inside, heading for one of the desks where she took up a computer. "Because I know someone who once had a maniacal experiment with _robot bees_."

"You do?" went the entire room, much to her amusement.

She rolled her eyes and continued to type. Eventually, she pulled up a profile of a young blonde woman with thick-rimmed, black glasses. She looked up just as everyone else noticed the profile. "Her name was Brie Larva," she stood up from her chair, casting narrowed eyes on the stranger's picture.

"And _how_ do you know this woman?" Cisco made a funny face for her.

Chuckling, she crossed her arms and replied. "She used to work at Mercury Labs. I sometimes saw her when I visited. She was like...ridiculous smart status."

"What happened?" Wells inquired.

Belén shrugged. "My dad never told me the full story. He just said that Brie had different ideas than the ones Mercury Labs had and she had to be let go. But I saw her once, with her mechanical bees, and she looked creepy. She yelled at me to leave, though. Apparently, I wasn't going to understand the purpose of her oh-so-grand experiment."

Taking all this into consideration, Wells called for Cisco to perform a task for them.

"Cisco, you said the second victim, Bill Carlisle, was a robotics engineer. Let's cross-reference his previous employers with those of Lindsay Kang."

Felicity practically broke into a desperate run for the nearest computer. "Allow me. Mama's been away from a keyboard for far too long." In no time she had pulled up the two profiles needed and sure enough they had a similar employer: Mercury Labs.

"They both worked at Mercury Labs," Wells mused, unsurprised.

"I don't know who they are," Belén said after a well thought examination of the two victims' pictures. "But if you ask me, Brie is probably coming for some revenge."

"Which means Dr. McGee might be in trouble," Caitlin looked at the rest in alarm.

"I think it's time we paid a visit to an old friend," Wells resolved quick.

Belén gave them an approving nod. "From my part, that's all." And for that, she looked directly at Barry. "I only came because Felicity told me the problem."

"Actually, we could use your help," Dr. Wells said, surprising her. "Dr. McGee might not be so welcoming towards us anymore considering what happened the last time we visited."

"I-I mean...is that really necessary?"

Wells nodded. "Absolutely. Unless…" he began to look between her and Barry, "...there is a problem we don't know about…?"

Barry cleared his throat, eyes on Belén. "Not really," he spoke quietly. "Bells?" immediately after saying that he knew Belén was eager to tell him he wasn't at liberty to use her nickname at the moment.

But, for the sake of time, and lives, Belén swallowed down that urge and agreed. "Course. After you guys," she languidly gestured the way out with one arm.

Yes, everyone could see the tension then.

~0~

After talking to Joe, it was agreed the best they could do was warn McGee of the possible attack and also to verify with her if they were truly talking about Brie Larvan. Using their strongest weapon - who was still in fancy gear - Belén walked into the office of the woman first.

"Evening, Dr. McGee," Belén greeted politely as she walked towards the desk.

"Belén, how nice to see you," McGee reached over her desk to shake Belén's hand. "How are you?"

Belén recognized the meaningful look on the older woman's face. It had been long since she entered the lab building, and to be honest McGee thought it would never happen again. "I'm doing better now," Belén replied with a slight nod.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well...see," Belén nervously smiled, "I don't know if you've heard about some recent killings in the city with potential evidence of it being animal vs human sort of thing."

"I haven't," McGee shook her head, momentarily stumped on where Belén was going with this.

"Um, well, see I have friends in the police force and they told me something interesting about the culprit. She's killing them with robotic bees."

The moment the words left Belén's mouth McGee was on board. "Brie Larvan," she automatically said. She remembered the young scientist quite well.

"You think it's her too, then?"

"Has got to be."

"Good, so then, uh…" Belén cleared her throat and looked back at the open door, "...you guys can come in. It's her."

Before McGee could question who Belén was talking to, she saw the familiar faces of Wells, Barry and Joe coming through her door. "I didn't know these were your friends, Belén."

"Conditional," Belén clarified, shooting a warning look to Barry.

McGee was frowning at the three now. "Twice in one year, Harrison. You really are vying for comeback scientist of the year."

"Always a pleasure, Christina," Wells gave a widened, fake smile.

Mcgee sighed and looked at Belén in question. Belén quickly jumped in To clarify their purpose. "They're just here to clarify and to give you protection."

"Protection?" McGee nearly laughed.

"Brie Larvan, remember?"

McGee sighed. "Brie was a brilliant roboticist who went down the wrong path. But I assure you she can do me no harm. I can tak care of myself."

"But Dr. McGee-"

"Good day, Belén," McGee gave her that look that said it was over.

Belén sighed and looked at the others to see what they could do. Unfortunately, McGee made herself very clear again and the group had no choice but to leave the building. And even though Belén tried once again to leave, it was made impossible with the reminder Brie Larvon was still out and probably scheming her final blow.

"So is this Queen Bee going down soon?" Felicity asked after Belén and Barry returned to the cortex. Dr. Wells had stayed back to speak with Joe in the hallways.

"She'll show up, eventually," Belén shrugged carelessly and walked up to a screen where Caitlin was currently watching. Felicity arched an eyebrow at Barry, gesturing what the hell were they still doing angry with each other. "What are they doing?" Belén questioned Caitlin once she saw Cisco and Ray working over Ray's suit.

"They're working on the suit in hopes of getting it done," Caitlin mused, crossing her arms. "It is so fun to watch grown men play with their toys."

Belén snickered. "Rayan used to play with these little metal things for _hours_ in his room. I used to make fun of him for that." Caitlin looked at her from the corner of her eyes, apparently disagreeing with Belén's actions. "What? He made fun of me for aerial dancing. It was only fair I get him back where it hurt."

In this meantime, Felicity had been expectantly looking from Belén to Barry as if one of them would come up and say they needed to discuss their previous argument. But, seeing this wasn't going to happen on its own, she jumped in. "Belén?"

"Hm?" the ombre-blonde glanced back.

"Can we talk?" Felicity pointed at the threshold and before Belén could give her answer, she pointed another finger at Barry. "You too - let's go!" And she began a hasty walk towards the threshold.

"What?" went both metahumans, exchanging a quick look between each other before turning.

Felicity merely stopped underneath the doorway and nodded her head to the corridor. "Let's go."

Caitlin giggled as she made way for a side room, of course not before teasing, "You guys are in trouble."

"What is she doing?" Belén broke in a stalk after Felicity, Barry doing the same beside her.

"I - I don't know!" he answered truthfully, although looking more mortified than anything.

"This isn't getting you out of anything, mister-"

"I don't intend it to-"

"Good," Belén shot him a look.

Barry sighed. "But it wouldn't be bad if maybe we talked…"

"Oh, what for? To accuse me of leading a metahuman riot against you now? What other false accusations are you gonna give me?"

"Look, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said what I said-"

"But you _meant_ it," Belén stopped abruptly to face him, her eyes soon to tear up. "And _that's_ what hurts."

Another sigh escaped from Barry. He happened to see Felicity standing across them, now smiling warmly at them. Giving her a small nod, she slipped away into a nearby room to give them some privacy.

Belén was still waiting for him to make a response, while simultaneously doing her best not shout again.

"I shouldn't have said that," Barry began after taking in a small breath. "Not because it was wrong, but because...you could never do that to me."

"Is that what Felicity told you? Or is it because _you_ _believe_ it?" Belén crossed her arms and waited for his answer.

"It's what I believe. I promise."

Belén kept her eyes locked on her boyfriend whom she knew was possibly going through the most horrible time of his life. With a sigh, she placed a hand on his shoulder and stepped closer to him. "You can trust me, okay?" she whispered, "With anything and everything." Barry nodded, although couldn't help let his head hang a little in shame. "Listen," Belén began after a moment's pause, lowering her voice to a faint whisper so that only he was able to hear her, "I do have something that you don't know about. It has nothing to do...with _him_. I need your help, Barry. Again."

Barry raised his head to see her concerned eyes, and instinctively matched his own with hers. "Wh-what do you need?" Belén bit her lip nervously, eyes roaming the hallway as she considered if this was the best place to reveal. "Belén?"

The woman snapped her attention back in front of her. "Maybe you can...come to my room tonight?"

"O-okay," Barry agreed to her terms without a single word of argument. Although he was a bit curious why he needed to visit her at a late hour just to hear this secret.

"Guys!" they heard Caitlin's call from the cortex. Almost immediately, they ran back to their friend thinking they were in danger again. A couple seconds later, Felicity joined them as well.

Caitlin was frantically watching Brie's lonesome bee buzzing underneath the computer it had been placed at. "It must have re-activated."

Felicity smirked. "And if it's being controlled wirelessly, I can trace its signal and figure out where it's trying to go!"

"I'm going to get Dr. Wells and the others," Caitlin moved towards the desk to get the comm. And missed the looks of the other three.

"Oh, no. Oh, boy," Felicity gaped as she pulled up street security feed for them to see. A swarm of bees was heading its way down to Mercury Labs.

"Dr. McGee is in trouble," Belén gasped. "How do we stop them?"

Wells, Cisco and Ray entered the cortex with anguished expressions as they figured what was going on.

"She's got to be remotely piloting those bees from somewhere," Felicity was in the middle of explaining.

"We need to stop this bug-eyed glasses woman," Cisco shook his head.

"And her mini bandits," added Ray.

Something clicked in their minds and they quickly looked at each other as both said, "Bug-Eyed Bandit. Bug-Eyed Bandit."

"Not one of your best ones," Belén side-commented, earning herself annoyed looks from the both of them.

"Got her. She's in an abandoned greenhouse," Felicity glanced back at the others with a widened smirk.

"You have to take out Brie," Wells said to Barry and Belén. "It's the only way to stop these nanodrones."

"I'd love to get a piece of Brie Larvan," Belén smirked at the idea, surprising Barry with the comment. "What? Did I forget to mention that besides being stupid smart she was ridiculously a bitch?" Now Barry tilted his head at her, eyes slightly widened as he rarely heard her curse. "I don't like her!"

"We can tell," he couldn't help chuckle.

Belén smiled, now giddy, but glanced back at the screen where they could see the bees on their way. "But what about Dr. McGee?"

"The defibrillator in Barry's suit is broken and I am not letting you go anywhere near bees," Cisco warned her with a pointed finger her way, making her chuckle. However, Barry had a different look set on both of them. There was that little feeling again, the very one Iris advised him not too long ago to get rid of.

"Bees can't penetrate my suit. I'll go," Ray volunteered, holding a hand up.

"Whoa. We haven't tested out the new power system yet," Cisco reminded him, now turning to him in concern as well. Did no one understand how dangerous bees were? Even more so that they were talking about robot bees!?

"We'll do it now," Ray assured, waving them to get going.

"I'm following you," Cisco said as a warning.

Caitlin nodded and made to leave as well. "I'm driving."

Felicity got up from her chair and rushed up to Ray. "And I'm kissing you!" she cupped his face and planted a kiss on him.

"You don't get a kiss yet," Belén warned Barry in case he got any ideas. "That's your punishment."

Barry swayed his head, letting it hang back in the end. "I deserve it."

"Yeah, you do," she patted his arm and turned for her suit.

~0~

Ray soared through the city night to find the robotic swarm of bees. With the sight so illuminated it wasn't as difficult. "Found her. Felicity, can you jam their frequency?"

Felicity had remained back on the computers to hopefully help them. "I already tried, but I might be able to redirect them onto a new target. Ray, get ready for incoming."

Ray smirked just a little, and Felicity knew that. "We have the technology."

~ 0 ~

Brie Larvan sat on a raised platform, inside what looked like a makeshift hive where all her computers and equipment were set up. She was busy overseeing her bees through one screen when she heard a...rubbery noise? Least that's what it sounded.

But then Barry came in, and remained a bit behind. "It's over, Brie. I know you're trying to kill Dr. McGee. You think that she betrayed you. I can imagine how that feels."

Brie turned on her chair, her delicate eyebrows furrowing together as she took a look at the speedster. "You think you understand the sting of betrayal? I'll show you what it means to be stung."

On command, a new swarm of bees flew up from behind her desk and went straight for Barry. He had no choice but to speed away for the moment.

Just when Brie thought she'd have some quiet again, something cold latched onto her arm. "Eugh!" It turned out to be a green vine, and it swung her chair over to face in the direction Barry had been seconds before.

"Hello, Brie," Belén stood straightened and did her best to hide that ill feeling she still got when using her powers. While it wasn't the same fear she had weeks ago, she still felt like at any moment her other side would try to come out. "We gotta talk about your stupid bees."

Brie made a quick move back to her desk to activate more bees when Belén used two more vines to turn her back around.

"I wouldn't do that, I can use poison too you know," Belén gave a half smirk as she released a tint of pink poison through her lips. "And I assure you mine is deadly too."

Brie struggled to move with the vines around her arms. "You can't stop my bees from hurting your friends anyways," she said as a last resort.

But then Felicity made the announcement she had managed to get control of the bees.

Belén smirked at Brie then. "Look at that - you're out of a hive."

Although that struck a chord inside, Brie maintained a glowering look on the metahuman, reminding them, "I still have a swarm outside - good luck getting them."

Perhaps it was just all of Belén's pent up frustration or maybe she really did just hate Brie, but she snapped and used a vine to punch Brie across the face. The blonde scientist was out cold before she hit the ground.

Barry was able to return after the swarm of bees after him literally dropped dead. He blinked at the unconscious scientist then gazed over to Belén. All she had was a smirk on her face and no regrets.

It felt _really_ good.

~ 0 ~

Ray had managed to stop the remaining bee swarm by leading them into the city ocean. Now as Cisco gave a little lookover on Ray's partially wet suit, Ray and Caitlin had stepped from the van to take a little break.

"Ah. Some kind of team you have here," Ray remarked, feeling quite euphoric after that triumphant battle. His suit was a little ruined but he was confident it wasn't something permanent.

"Helps to have friends in your corner," Caitlin gave a small smile.

Just as Cisco was coming to them, he heard a buzzing noise behind and turned to find one remaining bee making way for them. He didn't think properly but automatically blocked the way to Ray and Caitlin, allowing himself to be stung. Hearing him drop to the ground, both Ray and Caitlin turned around.

"Cisco!" Caitlin ran for her friend who was already going unconscious. She pulled out her phone and dialed for STAR Labs, immediately shouting, "Cisco's been stung!" the moment the line was answered.

"He's going into shock!" added Ray loudly for the phone.

~0 ~

"Go," Belén told Barry in a hurry. "Brie and I will wait for the cops."

Barry nodded and hurried for Cisco and the others. He found Ray trying to do cpr on Cisco to a failed attempt.

"Hold on. Back up. I'm gonna try something." Barry began vibrating his hands until they managed to conjur up electricity. Like a machine would, he pressed his hands on Cisco's chest and watched his friend jolt. He waited another couple seconds and thankfull Cisco came to life again.

Cisco coughed violently but was otherwise alright. "Either my fear of bees is over or it just got a lot worse."

Caitlin laughed happily and hugged him. "Thank God you're okay!"

~ 0 ~

The moment she was back at STAR Labs, Belén went to see how Cisco was. Needless to say she had him hugging for a good, straight five minutes.

"Bells, I'm really okay," Cisco couldn't help release a couple laughs here and there, patting her back.

"Why the hell would you purposely let yourself be stung by a robotic bee!?" she pulled away and smacked his arm.

"Ow!" Cisco clapped a hand to his beaten arm, taking a good step back. "What happened to you being worried?"

"You know how crazy Brie is," Belén sighed, shaking her head. She walked back to the desk where Caitlin and Felicity sat.

"Hey, you know what I just realized," Cisco began pointing at Belén, the widening smile telling her this wouldn't be good, "We finally figured out the person that _did_ hate Bells."

Barry chuckled as he saw Belén gape at the statement. She seemed in disbelief, which only made it funnier.

"I don't get it," Ray spoke up after pausing his suit examination from the other side of the room.

"See-" Cisco turned around fast to explain, "-Barry, Caitlin and I are all self-proclaimed nerds who got bullied at school but Bells over here-" he gestured with both arms towards the ombre-blonde who was now crossed-armed and glaring his way, "-apparently had no bullies whatsoever."

"I didn't," she assured.

"Until today," Cisco pointed at her. "Brie Larvan!"

"She wasn't at my schools!"

"But she still hated you."

The face on Belén spelled utter doom. "I punched her and I sent her to jail, so I _win_."

It was then that Barry decided to cut in before he saw his friend murdered. "I think we should call it a night," he walked towards Belén who still had a glare glued on Cisco. "Coffee?" he tried to get her attention but she wouldn't budge. With a sheepish smile at the others, he tugged Belén out of the room.

"Everyone likes me," she finally released as they left.

Barry chuckled at her seriousness. "Of course they do." He slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the head. "But no one more than me."

"Cheesy," she playfully rolled her eyes.

While he did enjoy their quality happy moments, Barry did have a high curiosity about her apparent secret he'd been sort of right about. He stopped them down the middle of the hallway and turned to face her.

"Wanna talk?" he asked cautiously.

Belén took a quick scan of their area before she answered. "My room?"

Barry nodded and in less than a minute he had taken her to the balcolny of her bedroom.

"One of these days someone is going to see you," she couldn't help but joke as used his vibrating powers to get himself through the door and thus open it from the inside. As soon as she walked in she made a beeline for her bed. "Now, I really didn't want to cause any problems between us-"

"I know, I really do," Barry nodded quickly, "It's just with everything that's going on with Wells-"

"I get it too," Belén promised him. She bent down beside her bed and reached for something underneath. "And I should have known better than to ask you to trust me on a secret. It was my problem, not yours."

"So what is it, then?" Barry curiously asked, taking a step forwards once she had pulled out a bag from underneath the bed.

Belén sighed as she stood up again. "I thought that maybe for once I could solve things on my own instead of getting you and the others to help. But, as usual, I am horrible with technology." She sighed deeper and handed him the bag so he could see for himself.

He dug a hand inside and felt the curious feeling of papers inside along with a couple of other objects he couldn't quite make out there. "What is this?" he took out a file and let the bag fall to the floor as he began going through.

To say he was surprised to find a file about his girlfriend's family was far from what he felt. He was utterly _lost_.

Belén waited until he looked up at her again. "Weird, huh? Imagine what I felt when I found that in Noah's bedroom."

And perhaps she could have worded that sentence a bit better, for now Barry was close to losing it. "You were _where_ now!? In his _bedroom_!?" for a moment he forgot that Maritza Palayta could be in the next room.

Thankfully, Belén knew her sister was out with some friends. "Barry, calm down, it's not what you think."

"You said you got this from his bedroom so you were-"

"Ransacking his place this afternoon," she finished for him with an amused smile. "I snuck in and took what I found." She then turned to her bed and pulled down the covers to reveal Noah's laptop underneath. "I also took his laptop which I can't seem to get into."

"Bells you're going to have to help me here," Barry shook his head and let the file fall flat on her bed.

"I wanted to know what Noah and my brother were up to, maybe even learn who Plasticine and Pixel were. So, I went into Noah's apartment and I got all this stuff."

Even with his speed it took Barry a couple minutes to understand it all. "Belén, you broke into an apartment?"

"I locked the door on my way out," Belén said as if that made it all better. "I was just so mad that I've had an enemy so close to me - working with me - and all this time he's been laughing at me."

"Yeah, I get that..." Barry gave a small nod of his head. "People you thought you trusted...turn out to be completely the opposite…"

"I just can't believe it. And it makes me even more angry when I remembered how hard he fought just to make you look bad in my eyes as the Flash. It makes sense now. My brother wanted Noah to convince me to come work with him so what's a way to do that? Make me see that my partner is not what he says he is."

"Oh, now _I'm_ mad," Barry turned to the laptop beside him and reached for it. "Trying to make me look bad in front of my girlfriend - I don't think so!" Belén giggled and inched closer as he opened the laptop. "So what do we have here, then?"

"I wish I knew," she sighed, getting a look from him in return. "I haven't been able to get through the password. I was kind of hoping my super-duper intelligent boyfriend could help me with that?"

"Oh, you got it," he smiled. Belén looked up at him with a smile of her own.

"Thank you," she said quietly, curling one hand around his. "And I'm really sorry for keeping all this from you. I just thought I could do it on my own."

"You don't need to do it on your own anymore, Bells. We're a team," Barry leaned down a bit kiss her cheek but at the last moment surprised her with a kiss. "I'm sorry I forgot about that for a moment."

Belén took a leaf out of his book and stole a kiss from him. "I forgot too, but the important thing is we're together again. We won't forget ever again."

"We won't," Barry agreed.

"And you know...maybe it's time we're _all_ together. As in...Caitlin and Cisco? I don't think they could ever be with Dr. Wells in all this. No matter how much loyalty they have for that man, neither of them would ever condone murder. They're first and foremost, you friends, Barry. Our friends."

Barry decided to gamble on that. There were too many things coming at them and it would make things easier if they were together when the storm hit.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I loved this episode simply because it guest starred the wonderful Emily Kinney (Brie). Spoiler alert I love her and her music. I was so sad they only had her for one episode and that she wasn't a metahuman .

But moving along, it's all starting to come for our two dorky metas. I didn't like writing their fight but it had to be done because the two were so under stress and paranoid on Barry's part. Important thing is they're together and strong! ;)

 **For the reviews:**

 **LadyRedStar** : Ugh yeah, Belén definitely has problems with that. Fortunately, she's always going to be reminded that she is a good superhero and she'll learn that on her own too! Yeah, while Noah didn't say much Belén didn't take it. She went to get answers for herself ;) And thanks! Hope you liked this chapter as well!

 **GraceEllingson** : Aww, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy the story so I hope the chapter forms part of that! :)


	23. A Broken Family

"What...are you even _doing_?" Maritza crinkled her nose every time she witnessed her brother telekinetically raise a dead rat from floor. Rayan had taken refuge in the old warehouse where he was once kept. For time now, he seemed to be off in his own world doing tricks of his own with his powers. Maritza could see fine progress in his powers but she also saw a deterioration in his health. She was scared they were both interrelated.

Currently, Rayan watched with a straight face as he levitated the dead rat off the floor again. He tilted his head a bit and missed the big flinch Maritza gave behind him after one of the rat's bones cracked.

"You shouldn't be so soft, Maritza," his voice was cold and flat. "After all, being soft is what drove Belén away from us."

Maritza looked down at the ground. She suspected a big part of Rayan's detachment from their group was due to Belén capturing Noah. It solidified where their sister stood and it was no easy thing accepting she declared herself their enemy. Rayan had always been close to his sister - they were _twins_ after all - and now that he was truly going to have be without her was something difficult.

"Angie wants to find Noah...she's been making more appearances in the city now," Maritza thought Angie's wrecklessness would at least incite some type of irritation from Rayan but she was wrong.

Rayan gave a mere shrug of his shoulders and let the rat drop back on the ground. "Let her. She's obsessed with Noah anyways. I'm better here, working on the control..."

"Yeah, on a _rat_!" Maritza stalked over to her brother and pulled him away from the rat. "That's just gross!"

Rayan met her with dead eyes, emotionless. "I need something to practice controlling the nerves of the body. Telekinetically moving parts of another person's body is no easy task."

"Rayan, please," Maritza put her hands together in front of her, "Snap out of whatever this is. I'd say it's unhealthy but I think we're long past that. We need plans, we need to do something-"

"-like what? Belén is gone, Noah's gone...and these headaches just won't go away!" Rayan tapped the side of his head rather aggressively, making Maritza even wince. "My head feels heavy, Maritza. I can't do anything right now..."

"You need to rest," Maritza set her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Maybe after some sleep you'll feel better."

Rayan rolled her eyes and for the first time displayed an emotion at her. "You know what I really want? I want to kill the Flash. Anyone involved with him. That way Belén can be alone just like she left me." He turn around and headed back to where his dead rat laid on the ground.

Maritza gaped at his back. He was actually talking about... _hurting_ their little sister? The even scarier part was the fact she didn't know if he was joking or already planning something.

~ 0 ~

"Yeah, they're not taking it well," Barry told Belén while the two walked alongside each other on the street of Belén's house. He'd just told Caitlin and Cisco their suspicions about Dr. Wells and while Cisco seemed a little more inclined to believe them, Caitlin was having big trouble deciding who to believe.

"They've worked with the man for a long time, it's natural they have doubts," Belén said, though she was sure the two would come to believe Barry instead. They had to remember he would never lie about something so big like this.

"I just hope they don't go doing something stupid like directly asking Wells," Barry sighed. If anyone gave Wells even the slightest slip of what they suspected him off, he would no doubt get away from them. Barry didn't want to risk losing him again.

Belén stopped when she saw her sister taking Axel from Mrs. Andrews. "I didn't know she needed a babysitter today. I have the day off!" But that was Maritza, she was always going off doing things on her own...though Belén never pushed Maritza about it considering she did the same thing with STAR Labs.

"Auntie Belén, look what I made!" Axel shouted as soon as he saw Belén on the street. He was waving a white paper over his head while Maritza led them towards the house. Belén and Barry crossed the street to follow them home. Axel shook his hand from his mother's and rushed up to Belén. "I drew a house that I'm going to build when I grow up!"

"His father was an architect," Belén whispered to Barry for his understanding. She took the drawing from Axel and laughed with Barry as they examined the house Axel was so proud of. It was a bunch of squares with the traditional triangle roof but there were many small circles around, making the two metas wonder what Axel was planning on those being. "This is great, Axel."

"Mrs. Andrews said that she would live in it," Axel said, even more proud. "I told her could."

"So nice of him," Maritza ruffled his dark hair. "Where've you been, Belén?"

"Went out to the park," the younger sister said cheerily.

For a split moment, Maritza heard Rayan's wish and felt a terrible pit in her stomach. Axel tugged on Belén's arm, motioning with his hand he wanted his drawing back. "Auntie Belén, are you going away with Barry again? Remember you said you were going to have dinner with _me_ one day?"

"I said that?" Belén looked up at her sister for confirmation, and when Maritza nodded Belén glanced at Barry. "I may have said that..."

Barry chuckled. He looked down at the hopeful boy, knowing how much Axel loved his 'auntie Belén' and decided their plans could wait for another day. "We could go out another night," he told Belén, "I'll call you tomorrow."

" _Or_..." Maritza began before she even realized what she was doing, "...you could stay for dinner?"

The request made both Belén and Barry stop and look at each other. Belén was sure this was too fast - having dinner with a family member when they'd only been dating for a couple months was too fast...right?

Axel beamed at the idea. "Ooh! Can we? I'll help clean up!"

"Maritza," Belén made a face that indicated the request was too out of the blue.

"I don't mind," Barry's response made the ombre-blond snap her head in his direction. She was sporting a light pink blush...just like he was. "I-I mean if _you_ d-don't mind...I meant..." He understood it was out of the ordinary and yes it made him nervous actually sitting down and having a conversation with Belén's sister, but...didn't they deserve to have a nice night after so many things were happening at STAR Labs?

" _I_ don't mind," Belén quickly clarified, putting a hand over her chest. "I definitely don't mind, I was just...maybe you had plans or something..."

"My plans were with _you_ , remember?" his small smile of reminder made her smack her forehead.

"I'm so stupid," she mumbled.

Barry laughed. "No, you're not." He looked back at Maritza who was already smiling at them. "I'd love to."

"Great, any cravings we could go by?" Maritza asked from them but Axel was the one to raise his hand to answer.

"Oh! Oh! Can we have spaghetti!? With meatballs!? Oh! And ham! Let's have spaghetti!" he put his hands together and smiled as wide as he could for the three adults.

Maritza looked down at her son. "I don't know, honey. Barry's our guest, he gets to pick remember?"

Axel very innocently inched closer to Barry, tugging on his arm until Barry bent down in front of him. "You can pick. Do you want to pick spaghetti?"

Barry couldn't help but laugh. He rarely got to be around children so Axel made his heart swell with happiness. "You know what, I do want to pick spaghetti."

Axel beamed and turned to his mother. "See? He picked spaghetti!"

"I wonder why," Maritza's sarcasm didn't register with the boy. "We'll see you later, Barry," she said as she grabbed Axel's hand again to lead him back home.

"You really didn't have to do that, Barry. I want you to know that you're not under any obligation to come," Belén said as soon as her sister was inside their house. "It's too fast - even for the Flash - and I would get that completely."

Barry smiled at her, genuinely happy in that moment. He surprised her with a kiss that may have lasted a minute or two...and may have been broken by the sounds of a car passing by. He had one hand resting on Belén's cheek, and his smile that just grew the more he stared at her. "I want to. We deserve something nice and besides, your sister invited me. I was not going to turn down the big sister."

Belén chuckled. "Maritza can't hurt a fly."

"I'm not taking the chance."

"You really okay with this?" Belén's voice quieted down. "I know you have a lot on your mind and...I don't want you to-"

"Bells, I'm really okay. I do have a lot on my mind but being with you helps me more than you think," Barry reached for one of her hands and gently tugged her closer to him. "Let's have a nice dinner with your sister and your adorable nephew."

A big smile spread across Belén's face. "I can't wait."

~ 0 ~

"This makes it the third break in this week," Cisco huffed at his computer as if it were at fault for Pixel breaking into another jewelry store. "This chick's obviously mad we locked her boyfriend away."

"How do you know they were together?" Caitlin asked beside him. She was sitting down at the desk, with her computer turned on but she wasn't really doing anything with it.

"Believe me, that face she makes every time she sees the security camera is for _us_ ," Cisco said, making a face each time he remembered the blonde woman glaring at the camera feed. "She's basically saying 'come at me'. She's mad."

Caitlin made a shake of her head and reached for her mug on the desk. She took a small sip of it then lowered her mug. She let a moment pass before she spoke again, and when she did it was much more quiet. "Have you thought about what Barry told us?"

Cisco raised his eyebrows and leaned against his chair. Of course he thought about it. It was the only thing he'd thought about since Barry talked to them that morning. "Oh yeah."

"And...? What do you think?" it was easy to see the turmoil Caitlin was in. She was torn between believing the guy who'd risked his life countless times to help others...and believing the man she'd worked for years now.

"Look, I gotta be honest, it does have some logic," Cisco continued to think about the flashes of Wells killing him. Though he didn't understand what it meant yet, he was sure it had to do with all this.

"But it doesn't make sense," Caitlin gripped her mug's handle. "Dr. Wells has done nothing but help us. How could he be the same man who murdered Barry's mom and Belén's father? It - it doesn't make sense."

"No one said it would be easy to understand," Cisco shrugged.

"How are you so calm about this?" Caitlin shot him an accusing glance. It was as if he was throwing away all those years he worked closely with Dr. Wells.

"Because Barry said we were going to come up with a way to prove all this," Cisco thought he was acting appropriately. He wasn't going to freak out but he wasn't going to discard everything Barry said. He needed to see evidence before they could make a complete decision on their next actions. Besides, Wells didn't know anything at the moment so it would be a quicker process to gather that evidence.

Caitlin's eyes had barely returned to her computer when the screen started blinking in an alert. She put her mug down and ignored Cisco's groan.

"If it's that woman again-"

"-it's Pixel," Caitlin offered him an apologetic smile.

"Homegirl is working my last nerve..." Cisco muttered as he grabbed his phone to call Barry. "I can't wait till we lock her - Barry! Pixel's on 5th street and Main! Jewelry store! Yeah, I know, _again_ -" Cisco rolled his eyes but Caitlin grabbed his phone to hurry Barry along.

"Seriously, save it for later," Caitlin disapprovingly shook her head at Cisco. She took his phone and dialed for Belén's number next with the intention of handling the call herself.

~ 0 ~

Pixel had shattered almost every display case to personally pick out the pieces of jewelry she loved. She had all the employees and the unfortunate customers huddled in one corner, anxiously waiting for her to take what she wanted and leave. She didn't even flinch when she felt wind pick up behind her. She was currently trying on a blue stoned ring.

"Too much?" she glanced back at Barry with her hand in the air, wiggling her fingers.

"A little," Barry's tone was flat. He was tired of the same game she'd been pulling all week. She wasn't even selling what she was stealing - it was clear she was just doing it for attention and, above all, to irritate the team.

"The color's beautiful though," she turned around completely, letting her blonde hair cascade over one shoulder. "It reminds me of Azul...you wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

Barry was about to answer when he noticed the sneaky vines crawling underneath the display table. With a smile on his face, Barry shook his head. "Nope. And even if I did, I don't think my partner would let you have him back. She's _mad_."

Pixel smirked. "Oh, I bet she is." Not a second later did she feel something wrap around her ankles. Before she knew it, the vines had yanked her down, letting her hit the floor headfirst. Barry flinched - as did the civilians in the room - when he heard the crack noise no doubt from Pixel's nose breaking.

"You're going right where Azul did!" the Azalea was formed by her trusty vines. There were blotches of green patches on her skin and Barry was happy to see her no longer bothered by them. It was still a challenge for her to control but it was getting easier when she allowed the random patches to appear instead of forcing them away. It was the first step.

Pixel raised her head up and touched her broken nose that was also bleeding. "Bitch," she mumbled under her breath. She disintegrated there and then, leaving the two metahumans in an alert state.

"C'mon, get out of here," Belén decided to get the civilians out before Pixel returned. She hurried them along towards the entrance doors but as she was helping the last civilian she felt a streak of energy hit her on the side, knocking her into one of the display tables.

" _That_ was for the nose," Pixel had reappeared across the store and was now coming for Belén, both hands ready to shoot again, "And this one's for whatever you did to Azul." She fired again but Barry sped Belén to another part of the store.

"You okay?" he noticed her left forearm had a long gash that was bleeding.

"I may have glass inside," Belén gave a quick shrug before setting her eyes on Pixel. "But she's going to be inside a pod today."

"We'll see," the blonde metahuman wiggled her fingers just as her feet began disintegrating.

"Nope!" Barry sped forwards and rammed her into a wall, forcing her to stop the disintegration if she wanted to go in one piece.

Pixel, however, was quick to retaliate. She brought her knee into his stomach, making the speedster groan and instinctively duck. Pixel fired her energy directly at him, blowing him back across the room. Belén acted fast when she saw the blonde going for a third blow of energy and snatched a display glass with her vines. She threw it directly at Pixel, hoping to crash it over the woman but Pixel's energy made the glass shatter instead.

Barry picked himself up, though felt groggy from the throw. His vision was a bit blurry but he was able to see Pixel making a run out the street. He and Belén rushed out only to see Pixel disintegrating halfway down the street, only God knowing where the hell she would appear next.

"Dammit!" Belén hissed. Her frustration grew every time they lost Pixel, especially since it was always the same way.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin immediately set to take the shards of glass from Belén's arm, but it was hard to do when the metahuman was still raging over their loss and moving her arms around to do her gestures.

"She's toying with us! She's having fun just messing with us!" Belén's shouted in the medbay room. "She's not even a hard metahuman to deal with - she's a pesk! That's what she is! A pesk!"

"Belén, please stay still," Caitlin calmly instructed her. With a loud sigh, Belén put her arms down and glared in silence.

"It's that disintegration trick she does that gets us," Barry was leaning against a desk in the room. Caitlin had already taken a look at him after Pixel's attack but he was fine - he was mad, but fine.

"She's crazy and annoying, a horrible combination," Cisco shivered just at the thought of Pixel.

"And getting to be a dangerous one at that," Dr. Wells' voice made the group look out into the cortex to see him coming towards them. The air shifted in the room into a much more tensed one. "Before we captured Noah, this woman had never really appeared in the city. She's not going to stop until she either gets Noah back or we put her in the pipeline."

"We've been thinking the same," Belén said in a quiet tone.

"Perhaps there's something we can use to disrupt her teleportation ability," Wells looked to Cisco and Caitlin for that task.

"Yeah, we'll get started on that," Cisco threw Caitlin a look, hoping the brunette wouldn't slip anything while they worked with Wells.

Caitlin pursed her lips together and nodded. "I just need to stitch Belén's cut first."

Wells agreed and took a head start to Cisco's workshop.

"I don't like lying to him," Caitlin then said once they were alone again.

"But he's been lying to _us_ ," Barry was quick to remind. She sighed and went back to her stitching. "Caitlin, please don't say anything."

"I won't," the brunette promised. "But I don't think this can be true-"

"-we'll look for evidence, trust us," Belén promised her. "But in the meantime, please don't act so weird around him. He's smart enough to suspect anything if we do."

Caitlin wasn't happy but what else she could do?

~ 0 ~

"That was stupid of you! Why the hell would you do that _again_!?" Maritza's shouts echoed throughout the warehouse. Pixel - or Angie who was now dressed in civilian clothing - merely rolled her eyes and stared at her new ring. "You're going to get yourself thrown into prison - or wherever the Flash stores all his prisoners."

"Jesus you yell so much, how does your kid take you?"

Maritza's eyes flared at the mention of her son. "Don't you e _ver_ mention my son, do you understand?"

Pixel shrugged and went back to admiring her ring. She pulled herself over an empty crate and crossed her legs. "I have to send a message that I'm going to keep causing trouble until I get Azul back."

"Rayan, tell her she can't do that," Maritza called to her brother but of course he never spoke up. Maritza groaned and turned to see her brother sitting cross legged on the floor, still working on that damn dead rat. "You have got to be kidding me! Rayan!"

Rayan let the rat fall to the ground but never glanced back at the two women. "Who cares? She's making life miserable for Belén and the Flash. Maybe that'll cause some strain between them."

"If you want to come with me I'm sure that'll leave some arguments between them," Angie suggested with a smirk. Now this made Rayan glance over his shoulder. "No doubt the Flash wants to put you in prison just like Noah, but Belén will definitely want something else for you. You want to make your sister miserable? _You're_ the way, stupid."

"Stop that," Maritza hissed at the blonde. "He does not want to hurt his sister-"

"Why shouldn't I?" Rayan pushed himself up from the floor, turning to face the two while he dusted his hands against his jeans.

"Rayan, what's happening?" Maritza scowled at him. Her heart actually raced with fear for Belén. "The plan was to get Belén to join us but even if she doesn't...would you really hurt her?" Rayan's straight face practically gave the answer. "Rayan, she's our sister..." she whispered. "I love her, and you do too."

"But she doesn't love us," Rayan countered with absolute certainty. "Her feelings for that speedster made her forget about us. She's no good woman, Maritza, or else she wouldn't be leading that poor civilian boyfriend of hers like she is. She's not good and therefore what does it matter if we fight her?"

"This wasn't the plan," Maritza shook her head. "I can't fight my sister-"

"-then don't," Angie hopped off the crate. "We will."

"I've practiced a good deal for today. You want to get lunch, Angie?" Rayan smiled for the first time in a long time, but it wasn't a smile that Maritza knew of his. It was dark, crazed. There was a new sparkle in his eyes Maritza had noticed for a while now and...it didn't give her a good feeling.

~ 0 ~

"You sure you're okay?" Barry asked as Belén walked into her house. He watched as she tugged her cardigan's sleeve over the stitches on her arm.

"Yeah, just mad in general," Belén muttered and plopped down on the couch. "That bitch Pixel is gonna get thrown into the pipeline, I swear it!"

Barry learned from the Brie Larvan incident that whenever Belén cursed, she was an extra special type of _mad_. He surmised, though, that most of this anger wasn't solely directed for Pixel - it was for her brother. He took a seat next to her on the couch and put a hand on her back. "We'll find your brother soon, okay? And we'll give him any help he needs."

Belén had told him what Noah told her days ago. If it was true Rayan's health was deteriorating because of his powers, then STAR Labs would take every measure they could to help him.

"If he even wants to see me," Belén said quietly. "I captured his team member and when I get Pixel he's going to lose it."

"He'll have to understand it was for the best," Barry rubbed comforting circles on her back. "But please don't put any blame yourself. He made his decision and you made yours."

Belén knew he was right. She didn't regret choosing her team - choosing to be a good person - than to be with her brother, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt. Her family was already broken - her father was dead, her mother was in Starling, her sister had lost her husband...

Barry saw her getting lost in thoughts he assumed were all bad. He wrapped an arm around waist and pulled her closer to his side. He lowered his head so that he could nuzzle his nose against her cheek. "Bells...?" his soft call earned a smile from her. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and purposely let his lips linger against her skin. "...Bells?"

"Barry, if you don't stop doing that we're going to have a problem," Belén shivered in a way she'd never really done. His touch was comforting no doubt, but this time she felt a necessity to have his arms around her and his lips on hers. Barry knew no such thing so he just kissed her cheek again, thinking it would at least annoy her and help her forget her problems for a moment. "Barry stop! I'm going to kick you!"

"How _rude_ ," the speedster frowned at her. She playfully rolled her eyes. "I guess I just won't kiss you anymore. Ever."

A snort slipped out of her. "As _if_. We both know you like to kiss me. You started to on your own right now."

"Yeah, to distract you!"

"Meaning you can't survive without my kisses. It only took you a couple months to be addicted? I'm _good_ ," she smirked proudly.

Barry shook his head. He stared at her for a good minute until he decided there was no actual problem with that. Yeah, he liked kissing her - so what? He'd never had a relationship like theirs and he wasn't going to ashamed of it. He snaked an arm around her waist again and pulled her closer to him for another kiss. Even though she hadn't been expecting it, Belén smiled through it. Her hands ran up his chest to come and rest over his shoulders.

Barry pulled away only slightly to be able to speak, but when he did his lips brushed over hers. "I'm never going to be sorry for being addicted to your kisses."

Belén blushed a bright pink and smiled. "I like your ideas to end disagreements," she admitted.

Barry gave a smug smile and tilted his head. "I'm good too."

"Yes, you are," she moved her hands to grip his jacket's collars. "Now let me show you some of _my_ ideas for...future references." She flashed a smile at his puzzled face then planted her lips on his again. Even if Barry wanted to pull away, Belén had gotten a good hold on him and was progressively pulling him closer to her. She scooted back little by little, bringing him with her, until Barry was hovering over her on the couch.

The two were drawn to each other with each kiss they shared. Belén's hands slipped under Barry's jacket and ran all over his shirt, purposely pressed firmly against the fabric that wasn't as thick as one would have thought. Just as Barry was starting to kiss alongside her neck, something strange happened. As soon as he felt himself actually _vibrate_ , he recoiled from her altogether.

"What...?" Belén slowly sat up, eyes dazed and confused.

"I'm sorry! I don't - I'm sorry about..." Barry felt his face warm, and he didn't need a mirror to know he was probably red from embarrassment. _What the hell was that_?

Belén languidly took in a breath, her hands passing over her hair. "That's unexpected," she admitted with a light chuckle. "But a good sign for my part." Barry dropped his hands from his face and gave her a puzzled look. She giggled and leaned forwards. "You _like_ me."

Despite his embarrassment - which Barry thought would follow him till the day he died - a laugh slipped from him. " _Clearly_."

"You haven't actually dated someone since you got your powers have you?" Belén came to realize it was the same for her part. No one ever really considered how having powers would affect _all_ parts of their lives. Barry seemed to have gotten a small taste of that tonight. It was honestly hilarious to her, but she would hold in her laughter for his sake.

"No, so I...Bells, I'm sorry," Barry shook his head, but Belén scooted closer to him again.

Her arms draped over his shoulders, giving Barry that same tingle as before. "I'm not," she bluntly admitted. "Nothing wrong happened. _I_ liked what happened...didn't you like what happened?"

"Kissing you? Like that? Of course I did," Barry said without putting any thought into it. Sure, they'd kissed a lot before, but so far it'd been those short types of kisses. Sometimes when they were in moments of comfort, they were longer but to say that they'd actually had a make out session before would be a lie. And tonight that they had...he'd done _that_.

"Barry it's okay," Belén chuckled only slightly. She didn't want to make him feel worse. She purposely kissed neck once, then twice, and looked up to see him making an effort not to fall under her charms again.

"Belén..." he sounded strained, like was restraining himself from responding back.

Belén tilted her head up to meet his gaze, smiling innocently. "Have I mention that I really love this relationship? Like...you're just _it_. I don't think I could imagine myself with anyone else. It honestly had to be you. It had to be you who helped me with my brother, who helped me get through my dad's death, who made me realize that...I could have feelings for someone again despite being...green and ugly."

A smile came to Barry's face, suddenly no longer tainted with embarrassment. "You're green, but you're not ugly," he started off with. He ran a hand through her hair, letting his fingers play with some strands. "You're the first the woman I've ever really done all that stuff for. I mean, I'll help whenever I can no matter who, but...I'm really glad Caitlin got us to go to that karaoke bar." Belén laughed just at the memory of him going up to the stage to sing. "And I'm really glad that I shouted in the streets that I wanted to go out with you." It became no problem to lean forwards and kiss her again. Unlike the last time, it wasn't heated but it was sweet, gentle kiss that expressed his desire to just be with _her_. He left her lips to press soft kisses down the side of her neck, one by one and slowly.

Belén closed her eyes and tilted her head. "Just perfect..." she whispered. When she opened her eyes she had Barry already looking at her again. "You're perfect," she leaned on him, resting both her hands on his chest. "Oh, and I can feel your abs and I just want you to know that I _like_."

Barry closed his eyes to laugh, lowering his head to hide his reddened face. "Belén, you always make me laugh, I..." he opened his eyes and looked at her with nothing but fondness.

Belén would have said more if it hadn't been for her sister's car making noise as it pulled up into the driveway. "Dammit, Maritza."

"That's my cue to go," Barry started getting up with the intention of speeding through the backdoor.

"And we were having such a nice time," Belén rose up from the couch. "One of us seemed to have a _really_ good time."

"For the love of God, please never tell anyone," Barry put his hands together in a praying form. "Cisco would never let me live it down."

"Your secret's safe with me," Belén put a finger to her lips.

"Thank you," Barry gave her one more kiss before heading out.

When Maritza and Axel walked into the house, both carrying grocery bags, they found Belén sitting on the couch, smiling so widely but at nothing. Maritza raised an eyebrow at her sister and kicked the door shut behind her.

"Belén, if you're done smiling at the wall, we could really use some help," Maritza watched her sister practically get up in a brainwashed manner. Belén walked over to them and took some of the bags, still wearing that smile that Maritza now deemed as a 'dreamy smile', and headed into the kitchen.

"Mommy, what's wrong with auntie Belén?" Axel asked as soon as Belén was in the kitchen.

"I think she's just happy, sweetheart," Maritza concluded. It made her wonder how Belén could still continue to harbor feelings for that Flash when it was clear she really liked Barry. She didn't take her sister to be a woman who would cheat on someone.

~ 0 ~

When Barry returned to the Palayta residence, he was changed into more appropriate clothing and a lot more nervous. He went with a dark blue, buttoned up shirt, dark pants and shoes. He tugged on his open black blazer, feeling warm despite the night being cool. Yeah, he was _nervous._ He didn't even want to consider how a meeting with Belén's _mother_ would ever go if he was reacting this way with the _sister_.

He knocked twice before the door opened up to reveal Belén on the other side. " _Wow_ , you look...so, so pretty..." His lack of vocabulary came at the wrong moment.

Belén laughed nonetheless. Her face turned pink for a moment. Like him, she'd gone and changed into better clothing. She wore a white blouse with loose long sleeves and a magenta colored skirt. Her shoes matched the skirt perfectly. Her lips were colored a deep pink that honestly made it difficult for Barry not to swoop down and kiss them. Her hair was pushed to one side, curled, and with a couple tiny clips over the top of her head that created twisted rows.

"I can say the same for you," she pulled him into the house and gave him a short kiss.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel came rushing in from the backdoor.

"Axel, don't run!" they all collectively heard Maritza's call from the kitchen.

"I need help tying my shoes," Axel raised his left food where his white laces were dangling to the sides.

"Is that dirt I spy on your pants?" Belén bent down to tie his shoe though eyed the dried mud patch towards the bottom of his jeans.

Axel made a face but quickly shook his head. "Nooo..."

Belén looked up at Barry, both smiling. "As you can see, he still has problems telling the truth."

Belén's comment elicited a little frown from the boy. "I tell the truth!" Axel stomped his foot. "I was not playing! I was..." he paused to probably come up with an alternative, which made it all the more amusing for the others. "I was looking."

Belén laughed on the spot as she got back on her feet. "You were _looking_? Axel, you're too funny sometimes!" she swooped down and picked up the boy, peppering his face with kisses. "That's why you're my favorite!"

"He gets that funny thing from you though," Barry remarked before be suddenly frowned. "Hey - I thought _I_ was your favorite?"

Axel bared his teeth in a wide smile. He wrapped his arms around Belén's neck. "Auntie Belén's _my_ favorite person and I'm hers."

"We can share her though...right?" Barry stepped closer to them.

Axel shook his head. "Nope!"

Belén laughed while Barry took in Axel's bluntness. "Aw, don't feel bad. Of course I can handle my two favorite boys." She leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips. "But no one tell Cisco he's been bumped to number three."

A smile came to Barry's face but Axel's "yuck" made them remember it wasn't just them at the moment. Axel wiggled until Belén put him down.

"No kissing, it's yucky," Axel shivered and ran towards the kitchen. "Mommy! Can we eat now!?"

"For the record, I do not think kissing is 'yucky'," Barry said as they headed for the dining table. "Feel free to kiss me anytime you want."

"I'll remember that," Belén chuckled.

~0~

Dinner consisted of a delicious tasting spaghetti and bread sticks filled with gooey cheese. There was salad out for anyone who wanted, but the other two dishes took the main interest.

"Axel, please use a napkin," Maritza sighed in resignation as her son continued to drop marinara sauce all over his shirt. The little boy really loved spaghetti.

"I don't blame him, this is really good," Barry loved the taste of the sauce as soon as it hit his taste buds. "I've tasted spaghetti countless times before but this one is really different."

Belén patted his arm while he took another forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. "You forget we're half Italian, Barry. That automatically makes us better at spaghetti."

"I love this!"

Belén laughed, as did her sister. Barry became aware he was putting on quite a show for the family. He cleared his throat and gently put his fork down. "You cook really well, Maritza."

The woman in question smiled. "It wasn't just me who cooked. Belén helped too."

"And me!" Axel momentarily stopped eating to remind of his contribution.

"So you write, you dance, and you cook...?" Barry hoped Belén knew he also meant to add in her badass heroic talent in that. "I'm beginning to think you're the triple threat in this relationship."

"No reason we can't both be," Belén smirked. She reached for a napkin on the table, accidentally allowing Maritza to catch sight of the stitches Caitlin had put in earlier in the day.

Maritza blinked and slowly put her glass down. "Belén, what happened there?"

Belén followed her sister's gaze to her arm and panicked. "I, um...I...I had...an accident at work."

"At work?" Maritza considered the excuse for a moment before reminding Belén of one important detail. "I thought you had the day off?"

 _Crap!_ Belén brought her hand to her head to cover her when she briefly glanced at Barry. The speedster had another excuse up and ready. "We visited Iris today," he spoke up.

"I tripped," Belén quickly jumped on and even laughed. "You know me. I got into one of my rambling states and I tripped. It was no big deal."

Maritza had stopped listening after reminding Belén she didn't work today. Her mind had raced back to her earlier meeting with Rayan and Angie. _Could Angie have done that to Belén today?_ Maritza felt her stomach churn with guilt. They'd fought Belén before, sure, but it was never their intention to deliberately hurt her for the hell of it.

"Maritza, you're a kindergarten teacher right?" Barry's question pulled Maritza from her thoughts. He was eager to change topics before she started asking even more questions.

She nodded. "Yeah. I eventually got hired."

"That must be hard, though, right? Having to take care of so many kids? Especially at that age?"

Maritza gave a light shrug. "I've been teaching for years now. Plus, I kinda have one of my own..." she nodded over to her son who in the middle of sucking in a spaghetti noodle.

Axel grinned at the attention. "Mommy says I get to go to kindergarten this year."

"I didn't take him to preschool because of what happened to my husband, Chris, but...he'll start later in the year," Maritza smiled at Axel. At the moment, he was the only thing that made her days worthwhile.

"I want to go to school and be in Mommy's classroom!" Axel exclaimed.

"I don't think that might happen, Axel," Belén cautiously went around that topic. He had all these ideas about what school would be like and she didn't want to be the one to burst his bubble with reality. "But I'm sure whatever teacher you get will be a fun one."

"Kindergarten teachers are always fun," Barry nodded his head. "Mine used to teach us the alphabet with these purple laminated cards that had little pictures next to these cartoons."

Belén smiled at him and chuckled. "Wow, you were a nerd back then too. What five year old even knows what laminated cards are?"

"Just because someone actually cared about their education doesn't make them nerds, Belén," Maritza playfully scolded her.

"He knows I'm just messing with him," Belén innocently smiled at Barry.

"Not really," he dramatically sighed. "Your sister is surprisingly mean."

Both he and Maritza smirked when Belén gasped in offence.

"I know that. You know, when we were young, she used to steal my clothes and hide them in our backyard bushes," Maritza could see Belén making a cutting motion across her neck. "I caught her and you know what she said? I should have let her borrow my shoes. My _shoes_."

Barry gawked at Belén who was staring at her plate. Though they couldn't see it, her face was red as the marinara sauce of the spaghetti. "You were _evil_ ," he started to laugh.

"No-" Belén's head shot up to defend herself, "-I wasn't! I was young!" she glared at Maritza who was beginning to laugh at Belén. "And I was just pissed that my sister wouldn't let me borrow a pair of shoes she didn't even _use_!" she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Why are you making auntie Belén mad?" frowned Axel. He looked at his laughing mother to Barry, wondering why they were being mean to his aunt. "Stop laughing! It's not nice!"

"Your aunt's not nice, Axel," Maritza sobered slowly from her laughter.

Barry kissed Belén's temple and grabbed her hand (though he had to uncross her arms first). "You have the most unique childhood stories, you know that? You're just amazing."

At his words, Belén started to come back from her fit. "You think so?"

He squeezed her hand and nodded his head. "You're my triple threat and I'm not letting you go."

Belén's smile seemed like it would crack her face from how wide it was.

As Maritza watched them get into one of their couple moment, she just couldn't understand how Belén could ever have feelings for another man besides Barry. The way Belén looked at Barry was enough to convince strangers that she was head over heels for that guy. And it was clear as day that he liked her - a _lot_ \- and that he cared for. She knew that while she'd been M.I.A. during their father's murder, Barry had been with Belén. He was the one to pull Belén out of her near depression - God knew how but he did. And the measures he'd gone to get one date from her sister were ridiculous. He liked her. Period.

Maritza knew that. Belén knew it.

So what the hell was going on?

~0~

The next day at STAR Labs, Belén arrived in the cortex eith s tray of Jitters coffee. As she dropped off coffee for Caitlin and Cisco, the two scientists exchanged bemused glances since their metahuman friend had 'dreamy smile' on her face the entire time.

"You okay, Belén?" Cisco finally asked.

"Of course," Belén took a sip of her own coffee. "I mean, I know how things are but right now I feel... _good."_

"Any reason why?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

Belén shrugged and drank some more coffee. "Barry and I had dinner with my sister last night. You know, since my mom's in Starling City, my dad's dead, and my brother's evil...it was nice having one normal family dinner."

"We're happy for you," Caitlin smiled. At least something remained normal and happy around here.

But it was as if her thoughts were heard. A minute later the cortex erupted with alarms.

"We have a robbery in progress," Cisco announced while Caitlin jumped on the search beside him.

"Not another jewelry store," the brunette pointed out, hoping that this would just be a petty break in by a normal non-metahuman criminal. _I never thought I'd say that in my life_.

"Where is it, then?" Belén hurried behind her two friends' chairs.

"Hold on, there's two metahumans attacking at the same time!" Caitlin caught the second incident while Cisco remained working on the first. "This one's at the park!"

"Dammit!" Cisco's exclaim made both women then their heads at him. "I swear to god I'll go fight Pixel myself!" he soon realized what he said and acknowledged what he would be up against if he followed through on his word. "Never mind, Bells she's all yours." Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

"Actually, Barry's closer to her. She's attacking a clothing store near the precinct," Caitlin informed them just before she got ahold of Barry.

"I'll take care of the park then," Belén started going for her suit. She just hoped her other side would be in a cooperating mood today.

~ 0 ~

The Azalea arrived at Central City's main park ready to bring in a new metahuman who thought they were so smart they could get away with terrorizing people in broad daylight. She stood over her favorite water fountain and looked around.

"What...the hell?" she whispered. People were running away but because objects - daily life objects and public street objects - were flying in the air threatening to crash over people. She had to duck when a mailbox threatened to hit her. It clanged against the cement upon its fall.

"Belén? What do you see?" she heard Cisco ask.

"Weird stuff..." Belén couldn't think of a better explanation than that. "Things are just...moving...on their own?"

"We're not dealing with a ghost, Bells. Although, that would be cool-"

"Cisco!" Caitlin hissed. "Belén, things don't just get up and move on their own. Someone has to be controlling them like, like-"

Belén's face dropped when she made the realization. "-someone's who telekinetic..."

"...Belén, hold on, Barry will be there as soon as he can," Cisco said rather urgently. Both he and Caitlin knew if this was truly Rayan making an appearance, Belén would have a hard time figuring him. They were just glad Dr. Wells wasn't with then at the moment because if things were true about him then he would have no problem ordering Belén to fight her twin brother.

"I can take care of - AAH!" Belén shouted when an invisible force threw her off the fountain, making her crash into park bench.

"Belén!?" Cisco called but only heard her groans from the other line. "Belén!"

Beside him, Caitlin was doing her best to get ahold of Barry. "Barry, hurry up and get to the park!" the brunette scientist exclaimed.

"I'm trying!" the speedster was in his own problem at the moment. "Pixel's a lot harder to catch when she can disappear into thin air!"

At the park, Belén sat upright and cracked her back. "That _hurt_ ," she frowned.

"Kinda the point, Belén," she heard the indistinctly voice of her brother. She looked ahead and saw Rayan, under a black mask, coming towards her. "You hurt me, I hurt you. Just like when we were kids, right?"

"We _never_ did this as kids!" Belén quickly got up on her feet. "We argued and, yeah maybe we threw each other things but... _this_!?" she gestured to the destruction he was causing. "How could you get up to this?"

Rayan flatout laughed and it pained Belén because it was a mirthful laugh. He didn't care. "I think the right question is how did _we_ end up here? Brother and sister, fighting against each other, while our father is dead thanks to some metahuman?"

"Rayan, please. You're not well," Belén could see that her brother wasn't all the way there like Noah had said. Even with his mask on, she could see his eyes were widened and...dark. He kept flexing his fists, opening them and closing them, like he was anxious about something. "Let me take you back to STAR Labs where we can help you-"

Rayan's response was to pick up the park bench behind her and bring it over her. Belén yelped and struck vine through it before it would crash over her. Rayan didn't hesitate to strike again. He swung an arm to the left and created that invisible force strong enough to throw Belén to the side. Her body tumbled on the ground, landing on her back. She breathed hard and started feeling the other side of her powers creeping over her. Blotches of green crawled over her skin, forming light green scales.

"Belén? Are you awake?" Cisco called through the comms. Both he and Caitlin could see her vitals spiking, and since they had done their recent training with her, they were well aware of what was happening.

Rayan turned his palms over and made a swing towards the fountain. Belén was about to crash into the fountain when a green vine wrapped around it and allowed her to make a swing back to her brother. She kicked him in the stomach and watched him stagger back. Angrier than before, Rayan prepared his fists and started throwing whatever he could pick up around him.

"STOP!" Belén screamed while she deflected what she could, but her brother wouldn't listen.

Vines sprang from her body without her order, acting on their own as they swung on Rayan. He couldn't keep up with the different vines threatening to capture him - and some even attempting to choke his neck - until he balled one fist and brought it down. Belén gasped as her left knee suddenly bent forwards. She fell on it and no matter how hard she tried to get up, her leg wouldn't listen.

A malicious smile came to Rayan's face. "Like it? I've been working on a rat to try and get the right control over the nervous system. My telekinetic powers are advancing and I guess you get to be the first human I use."

"Rayan...I'm your _sister_." Tears filled Belén's eyes while she started coming out of her 'other side'. The green around her skin started retreating now that she was getting emotional over her brother.

Rayan tilted his head at her. "And yet, you turned your back on me. You left me for the Flash and all your little teammates."

"No, I-I didn't. I love you. You're my brother and-" but she screamed when Rayan managed to twist her second leg, forcing her completely down on her knees. She couldn't budge from the position and even when she tried to move she could feel the force of Rayan's powers _inside_ her legs. It hurt like hell.

"Belén!?" Caitlin shrieked from the other line. She switched comms. to get ahold of Barry. "Barry! Get over to the park _now_!"

"I'm trying!" Barry shouted back. Pixel was deliberately wasting his time and he knew it. Still, he couldn't just leave the civilians to her mercy. "Call Nina!" he said as a last resort.

"You're a traitor," Rayan was having his go at the park. "You wanted to be a hero for this city? It came at the cost of your own family and you didn't care. So now I stopped caring about _you_." He looked around and spotted a vendor cart left on its side. He picked it up with his telekinesis and launched it at his sister.

Belén squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the blow.

"Enough!" Plasticine threw her purple mass to force the vendor cart away. Belén cracked open an eye and saw Plasticine shooting purple directly at Rayan. He hadn't expected it so he was thrown into the fountain.

Belén immediately felt the pressure off her legs when her brother went under the water. She got up on her feet but even then she fell forwards. Yup, her legs hurt. Badly.

"You are out of your mind!" Plasticine shouted at Rayan. "The hell are you doing with all this!?" she gestured to the park and barely kept herself from pointing at her sister behind.

Rayan got up from the fountain and set a deadly glare on Plasticine. " _You_ are going to betray me too?"

"You are _sick_ ," Plasticine spat. "And I'm not gonna let you do something you'll regret when we get you medical health."

"You'll have to put me down if you want this to end."

"Fine," Plasticine spat. She started shooting again, pelting Rayan with the purple mass that - with the water - stuck to him.

Belén couldn't understand what the hell was going on but she knew her brother was going to get away any moment. She stared blowing her azalea poison into the air, forcing Plasticine and Rayan to breath it in. The two started coughing, as predicted, and just when Belén was going to strike with a vine she saw the pixelation of the one and only Pixel forming in-between Rayan and Plasticine.

A minute later, Barry joined them and took away the poison. He came in directly to punch Pixel - for the woman owed him - but she disappeared and reappeared behind. Plasticine attempted to punch him but he ducked and punched her instead. She went down and looked up in time to see Pixel clamber onto his back.

"Get the hell off me!" Barry exclaimed. The fact she was actually light didn't make it easier to shake her off.

Pixel smirked and put her hands the sides of his face. "Get ready to see stars, Flash." Her hands emitted a type of energy that Barry felt to the core of his head. He screamed and was forced down to his knees.

"Leave him alone!" Belén cried. She couldn't believe what was happening. Her brother was stuck to a fountain after fighting her and now they were moving onto Barry and here she was unable to move. "Please!"

Plasticine glanced at her sister to see her eyes shining with new tears. Belén was looking directly at the Flash, _crying_ for him? Anyone a mile away could see she had feelings for him, that she cared for him. _How could she do that? Barry is such a nice guy and I **know** she cares for him too. How could she do this to him?_

And then the bell went off in Plasticine's head.

Her hand covered her mouth just as she gasped. Her head whipped in the Flash's direction, her eyes wide to the impossible. Without thinking, she shot a purple mass that forced Pixel into the same fountain Rayan was in. She rushed into the fountain and picked Pixel up. "Get us out _now_!"

Pixel threw her a glare but seeing the Flash getting up meant they had about a second before he grabbed them all. She grabbed Plasticine's arm then reached for Rayan. "Tough luck, little sis," she winked at Belén before disappeared with her two comrades.

"NO!" Belén shouted in vain. She scrambled to get up but each time she did, her legs buckled and down she would go again.

~ 0 ~

"You are very lucky that you didn't break any bones or twist either leg," Caitlin was still reading off her results when she told Belén she hadn't sustained major injuries. "You look pretty good."

"Except for the cuts," Belén pointed to her face that held a couple cuts from Rayan's attacks. "And my broken heart due to the fact my brother _attacked_ me...because he's _evil_." Her voice shook terribly, making Caitlin look at Cisco and Barry. "But yeah, I'm fine." Belén got off the bed and when her legs buckled, Barry stepped in to keep her steady. "When the hell can I walk normally again?"

"It'll take a couple hours for your nerves to re-adjust," Caitlin stepped aside to Barry could take Belén into the cortex.

Dr. Wells was looking over the public video feed they had from the park. He rubbed his chin while looking particularly at Rayan's attacks. "It's actually quite interesting how Rayan has managed to advance his telekinesis."

"Very interesting?" Belén couldn't help her sourness. "Seriously?"

Wells looked up with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but this is the first metahuman we encounter who has advances his own powers to control parts of the body."

"Rayan is sick and we need to help him."

"We will," Wells' reassurance meant nothing for her. As far as she knew, he would try to kill Rayan too.

"I'm gonna take her home," Barry said, hoping Wells wouldn't keep them around to discuss this fantastic new ability of Rayan's.

"Get rest, Bells," Cisco rubbed a hand on Belén's arm. "Anything you need, you call us." Caitlin nodded beside him.

"Thanks," Belén's voice was barely heard but the two knew what she'd tried to say.

Barry picked her up in a bridal style manner and headed for home. He wasn't surprised when she'd asked him if he could stay with her for a while. Maritza's car wasn't in the driveway so he figured if Belén had to vent, now would be the perfect time.

"Can we go out to the backyard?" she asked him after he carried her in. "I can walk it if you want to put me down."

"I don't think so," Barry's response made her smile. She leaned her head against his chest while he walked them towards the backyard. He came out and helped her sit down on the grass, against the lone tree in the yard.

"Do you need anything?" he asked her after. "Water? We could get dinner? I could go to Jitters and-"

"I don't want to eat anything," Belén said quietly.

He didn't push hard for dinner knowing that he would only get her even more upset. Instead, he took a seat beside her on the grass and reached for her hand. They stayed silent for a couple minutes until Belén started sniffling out loud.

"He attacked me. He actually _fought_ me," the more she told herself it happened the less she was able to believe it. "My twin. He's my brother and he said he stopped caring about me. He stopped loving me."

"He can't do that, even if he says he has...he can't," Barry didn't think that even in a crazed state Rayan would be able to forget Belén was his blood - his _twin_.

"He nearly broke my legs, Barry. He didn't care what he was doing," Belén angrily rubbed away some tears off her face. "He looked me in the eyes and said that I stopped caring about him so he stopped caring about me. I drove my brother away!"

"No, _you_ did nothing wrong, Belén," Barry shifted so that he faced Belén. "You have done nothing but try to find him and he never appreciated it. I think..." he sighed, hating to be the one to tell her this, "...I think Rayan stopped being your brother the day the Particle Accelerator went off. It wasn't his choice to get his powers but it was his choice to stay away from his family."

"I could have tried _harder_ -"

"Belén, listen to me, _please_ : you did everything you could. Rayan just didn't want your help," Barry gripped her hand between his. "None of this is your fault."

"Then why do I feel so awful?" Belén burst into sobs.

It absolutely broke Barry's heart to see her like that. He took her into his arms and held her tight. He repeatedly told her it was alright and that it wasn't her fault, but he knew his words carried no weight for him. All she knew was that her family was essentially broken.

In that moment, neither of them heard when Maritza had returned home. Without her son, Maritza intended on getting herself together before going to pick him up from Mrs. Andrews. She heard her sister in the backyard, however, and upon realizing it was sobs that she heard, Maritza hurried into the kitchen. The moment she saw Barry was with Belén, she dove to the side and barely peered through the small window over the kitchen sink. Due to the backdoor still being open, she could hear perfectly.

Belén was crying over them, over their brother...

And Barry was there to help her, to sooth her, support her...

Maritza closed her eyes and moved away from the window. Barry was the Flash. _Of course_ it made sense. Belén could never be the type of woman to lead on two different men. Maritza had seen Belén give the _same_ look at Barry during their dinner and then again for the Flash during their fight. It was the same look of fondness, of care...of _feelings_. She only liked one man and that man happened to lead two lives. And so far, all she and Rayan had attempted to do was hurt the Flash and anyone around him. Now apparently it meant hurting Belén too.

This isn't what she wanted. For a long time, Maritza hadn't really known what she wanted. She'd been drifting day after day, and now suddenly she had one furious brother on one side and a brokenhearted sister who'd been hurt by her own siblings.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yes, I know I provided fluff and ended it with angst...I'm sorry...I'm gonna go hide now .

But I mean that dinner was cute though, right? Just that family of Belén's, my poor girl. I felt so bad but at least Maritza seems to be getting a clue and perhaps a big clue since she figured the big secret out.

 **For the review:**

 **LadyRedStar** : Yeah, I wrote that specifically with the idea that Belén was the wrong one. Yeah I figured Felicity (from the couple seasons I watched of her) would take on a more hands-on approach to get these two to talk ^.^


	24. Welcome to Starling

Belén grasped one of the lavender colored silk robes dangling from the ceiling and took a deep breath in. She grabbed a yellow silk robe and slowly entwined her arms around them securely. And little by little, she pulled herself off the floor. The feeling she got as the was practically in the air was exhilarating - she had forgotten how much she loved this. Right now, she needed to remember she still had some good things left in her life.

Around that moment, Barry came into the room with Noah's laptop inside a black computer bag slung over his arm. He paused and smiled when he saw his girlfriend so focused on her act. Since her brother's appearance at the park, Belén had retreated to her aerial dancing to distract herself. It was a lot better than sitting and crying, and she definitely didn't want to do that every night.

"Bells, I got the password," Barry called to her, but the surprise of his unexpected presence and news caused a very different reaction.

"What!?" Belén had lost her focus and let the robes around her body loosen. She fell flat on her back.

"BELÉN!" Barry had sped over before the woman even opened her eyes. "Bells, I am so sorry! Are you okay? Do you need me to take you to STAR Labs? Here-" he was about to slid his arm across her back in order to take her to Caitlin when Belén began to laugh.

"That would happen to me," she slowly opened her eyes to reveal a very bemused expression. She sat upright and cracked her neck. "It wouldn't be the first time I had an accident like that."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Barry still didn't completely buy that she'd just shaken a fall like that. "That was a good drop from way up-"

"There's a cushion, Barry," she patted the blue cushion acting as a floor underneath them. "They're here for a reason. I'm fine, honest." She pushed some of her loose hair out from her face. "So, computer time?"

Barry sighed but nonetheless moved into the reason for his visit. He helped her stand up and walked with her to the nearest bench. "I finally got into the laptop and I did find some interesting stuff."

"Like what?"

Both of them took a seat beside each other. Barry pulled out Noah's laptop and immediately showed Belén a string of documents Noah had saved on his computer.

"Noah's been documenting every one of us," Barry began to explain. "He has Caitlin, Cisco, me, Iris, you and Dr. Wells. You and Dr. Wells seem to be his number one priority though." And for that Barry felt even more anger towards Noah.

"Understandable," Belén sighed as they went through many of their files. "Look at all this information he got on us. What a creep. I can't believe I worked with him." She then crinkle her nose in disgust. "I can't believe he kissed me."

"Me neither," scowled Barry.

She glanced at him with a widened smile. "Did I mention you got like 10 times hotter for hacking this laptop?"

"It would help to say it…" Barry sarcastically swayed his head.

She laughed and pulled him towards her for a long kiss. "Thank you super-duper intelligent boyfriend of mine."

Barry laughed with her again and continued showing her more of what he found on Noah's laptop, including something even he had been surprised to see.

"Why...has he got pictures and information on my sister?" Belén couldn't help feel a shiver run down her body from fear. This creep had information not only on her, but her sister and nephew too. "And my mom? She's in Starling! Did Rayan seriously have all of us watched?"

"It's all pretty standard," Barry said, although he didn't know how much help that would be for her. It was pretty weird seeing so much information on Maritza Palayta and Veronica Green for no good reason. "I mean, he's got their medical records, background…"

"Like creeps, because they're all creeps," Belén closed the laptop for Barry and looked away. This was what Barry had been afraid of when he'd hacked into the computer. Belén was still fragile and anything could set her back.

"Bells, you want me to take you home?"

Belén left her thoughts and glanced at him again, smiling lightly and nodding her head. "Yes. I need to shower before I go over to Joe's to talk about...you know..." They were finally going to have a group discussion about their plans over Wells.

"You don't have to," Barry said a little quicker than planned.

Belén gave him an odd look for his manners. "What do you mean?"

"I just...I mean, we would all understand if you wanted to take some space-"

"Barry, don't do that," she warned with a sigh and got up from the bench. "Don't treat me like a child."

"That's not what I was-"

"-just because my brother is turning into an evil, crazy metahuman who wants to basically kill me and everyone I know-"

Barry inwardly sighed. She was starting to ramble in that way that got her feelings all riled up. That was the thing about Belén, whenever she got upset it ultimately became a mixture of sadness and frustration. "I wasn't-"

Belén turned around to face him. "-don't treat me like a child!" she exclaimed, perhaps more loud than she intended. Her hands moved to make a gesture but she bawled her fists and lowered them. Her gaze had fallen to the floor by this point. "I did not treat you like a kid when your Dad was kidnapped. I was there for you and I gave you my utmost support so all I ask is for you to do the same. I'm not a kid, I don't need to be babied."

"I'm sorry," Barry put the laptop on the bench then got up.

"You don't need to apologize," she looked up at him, still pretty serious. "I know this is hard because you don't know how to act around me, nor what to say. I just want you to be with me, that's it. Just you...right here." She gestured to their current places then reached for his hands. "Be right here."

"Of course," Barry pulled his hands out of hers and wrapped them around her waist instead. He hugged her tight and felt her grip on him tighten seconds later. It was true he didn't know how to help her because really, who would? These weren't things that happened to everyone.

"I want to come," Belén whispered a minute later.

"Okay," Barry only let go of her when Belén started wiggling in his arms.

She looked up at him, no longer upset since he'd gotten the point. "So do you want to give me a lift back home?"

"With that face, of course," Barry smiled at her. He gave her a short kiss then watched her go get the rest of her things.

Barry decided to wait for Belén while she got ready at home. She wouldn't take long anyways and he just wanted to be near her in case she needed anything. Everyone was keeping a close eye on her, after all. Though if she ever found out she was sure to kick everyone's asses.

"Oh, I thought Belén came home alone," Maritza startled Barry in the living room. The woman crossed her arms, unsure how to feel about him at the moment, not that Barry knew what ran through her head at the moment.

Ever since she discovered Barry was the Flash, Maritza felt like she was even more lost. Her brother and Angie were already suspicious about her recent behavior. And with Rayan's deteriorating health, Maritza knew she didn't have a lot of time to come up with a decision. She could either tell them that she knew who the Flash was and finish off with Belén's life, or keep quiet and...do what? That's where she got stuck.

And now she didn't even know how to act around Barry.

But of course, Barry knew nothing. To him, she was Belén's older sister and just that. He got up and greeted her with a wave of a hand. "We're going out, so...I'm just waiting…"

Maritza nodded. "I'm...I'm making lunch...if you wanted to-"

"-oh no, thanks," Barry quickly said since they were due at Joe's in a bit. "We...we made plans and I...I don't know what Belén would want…"

Maritza was honestly grateful he was rejecting the invitation. She didn't know how she would act if he stuck around for another meal right now. God help me, she inwardly sighed.

Thankfully, they started to hear Belén's voice and Axel's coming down the stairs. "But where are you going? Can I go!?" Axel was trailing after Belén as they walked down the stairs.

Belén playfully rolled her eyes at her nephew. "You always want to come along with me, Axel."

"Because I like being with you auntie Belén," Axel took hop from the last step then rushed past her towards Barry. "And Barry's really fun too! Can I come pleeeeaase?"

Barry chuckled. "You know what, maybe we can make a plan so that all of us can go out one day...with your Mom's permission of course."

When he looked over to Maritza the woman in question stiffened for a moment. Still, she had to agree for the sake of the situation. "If it's not too much…"

It was enough for Axel to shout with joy. "Yay! We can go to Jitters for chocolate milk and then we can go to the park and have a picnic! Oh and we can-"

"Slow down, Axel, you're getting purple on the face," Belén laughed. Axel still grinned and ran back to her to hug her by the waist.

"I wonder where he got that from…" Barry's sarcasm was met with a brief glare from Belén.

"He just really loves his aunt, that's all," Belén bent down to properly hug Axel.

Maritza knew that was an understatement. Axel adored his auntie Belén.

"I have to go, Axel," Belén patted him on the back then straightened on her feet. "But we'll make plans okay."

"Okay," Axel happily stepped back.

"Ready," Belén told Barry and started saying goodbye to Maritza and Axel.

The two metahumans walked out of the house and moved down the front yard. They couldn't speed away so close to the house after all.

"You really don't have to do that, Barry," Belén said after a while of going over the moment back at the house. This was the second time her family had unexpectedly brought Barry into some sort of plan and she didn't think it was fair. "I can tell Axel something else-"

"Bells, I really don't mind," Barry chuckled at her concerns.

"But I just feel like it's too early and you might be uncomfortable around my family..." Belén trailed off for a moment and wondered how that statement was actually _really_ true. "My brother's already caused enough trouble and..."

"Belén, if this makes _you_ uncomfortable, we don't have to do anything with your sister nor your nephew," Barry stopped walking to look her dead in the eyes. He was definitely alright with spending some time with Axel but if it was a situation that Belén wasn't ready for then he would back down.

"No! It's not that it makes me uncomfortable!" Belén broke into a fit of rambles trying to explain that it wasn't because she didn't want him around her family. She just wasn't very good at explaining it without running out of air first.

Eventually, Barry moved a hand to her shoulder and practically ordered her to take a deep breath in. "Now you're purple on the face," he chuckled when he remembered Axel earlier.

"Definitely related," Belén mumbled before taking another, smaller breath. "Barry, I'm definitely fine if you want to spend time with me and my family. It actually makes me happy that...you'd _still_ want to be around my family considering...you know..."

Barry knew where she was heading at and nodded, acknowledging her feelings. "You're not responsible for what your brother does, Belén. And your sister and your nephew aren't either. Soo..." he leaned closer to her, his hands finding hers, "...we should start thinking about where to bring Axel."

Belén started smiling. "He already thinks you're cool so wherever we bring him you'll get the points."

They both laughed knowing it was true.

~ 0 ~

The gathering at Joe's wasn't meant to be a happy one due to what they were gathering for. It was easy to see that out of everyone there, Caitlin was still the most reluctant to believe anything of this was true.

"About time you got here," Cisco huffed when Barry and Belén walked into the living room. "I'm starving and I was waiting for a certain speedster to pick up some food…"

"On it," Barry thought fast and disappeared out of the place.

"Not even a 'hello', Cisco?" Belén playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"I gotta eat," Cisco shrugged. Barry returned holding two pizza boxes in his arms. "Coast City?" Cisco eyed the boxes with doubt of their good taste.

"Supposedly the best in the west," Barry said and put the boxes down on the coffee table.

Cisco forgone his doubt in favor of his hunger. "Come to papa," he pulled open the lid of the top box and grabbed a piece. "Caitlin?"

The brunette gave a light shake of her head from her spot. She was sitting on the couch arm across them. "I'm not hungry."

Joe cut into the conversation to get them on track. "Okay, six months of investigating Harrison Wells has led us nowhere, so we're going back to the beginning to see what we can find out."

"What does that mean?" Caitlin frowned.

"Road trip, baby," Cisco replied with the biggest, excited, smile ever. He then took a huge bite of his pizza slice.

"Joe and Cisco are going to go to Starling City," Barry explained, much to Caitlin's and Belén's surprise.

"Starling City?" Belén moved forwards. "What for?"

"To investigate the car accident that Dr. Wells was in with Tess Morgan 15 years ago," Joe explained.

"Dr. McGee said that after Wells's accident, he became like a complete stranger. Just a different person entirely," Barry further added.

Caitlin made a noise that attracted everyone's attention. "Because the love of his life died? You of all people can understand how grief can change a person."

"Caitlin, we believe that Dr. Wells is the Reverse-Flash and killed Barry's mother, and he may have done the same thing to Tess Morgan," Joe tried to be as polite as possible seeing she was just having trouble seeing Dr. Wells in a new light. "We have to learn everything we can about that night. See where it leads us."

"Oh, um, can you cover for me with Dr. Wells?" Cisco asked from his co-worker.

She frowned even deeper. "You mean _lie_?"

"Yeah."

Caitlin looked from one to the other, hoping to find someone who would see how ridiculous this all sounded. Unfortunately, she didn't find that. Overwhelmed, she got up from her spot and headed for the doors. "I need some air."

Barry tried to stop her but it didn't do much. "Whoa... hey, Caitlin…"

"Doesn't look like Caitlin's with us," Eddie remarked

"No, she's with us. I'll talk to her," Barry said. He missed Belén's doubtful face on his side.

"What do you want us to do here?" Eddie then asked Joe after a moment.

"Business as usual while we're gone," Joe warned. The last thing they needed was Wells to suspect anything from their part.

"Copy that." Eddie got up to take one of the pizza boxes into the dining room.

Barry walked over to Joe. "Well, I want to wish you good luck over there, but I'm also scared of what you might find."

Joe gave a warm smile, understanding his feelings. "Scared is a good thing. Scared keeps us alive."

Belén cleared her throat as she too came closer. "How exactly do you plan on getting by at Starling?"

"You know, just say we're on the job," Joe shrugged carelessly.

But Barry recognized the look on his girlfriend's face. "That's your _idea_ face…"

And indeed did the ombre-blonde have a new idea. "It's just...my _mom_ works at the station there...she'd make it a whole lot easier for us...if I went…"

"You wanna go?" at this, Cisco came to join them. "Bells, you realize what you're saying right?"

"There's more into this," Belén said as a justified explanation, although only Barry could understand it. He knew what she was thinking. Noah had eyes set on her mother and Belén wanted to make sure Veronica was alright. "Besides," she said with another excuse at hand, "I know Starling very well. I lived there as a kid."

"You can come," Joe said first, letting her know this was all her choice in the end, "but don't you think your mother would worry?"

"Believe me, she'd be asking you more questions if she thought I wasn't in the loop."

"Alright," Joe said, giving her a smile. "We leave tomorrow morning."

"Got it, I'll be here," Belén assured. She then made to get her things and leave so that she would have time to call in to work for an explanation on her absences, as well as to figure out what kind of story she was going to tell her sister at home.

"Hey," Barry came by in the middle of her thoughts, "why don't you just stay the night here instead?" he suggested and elicited a very surprised look in return from her. "I-I meant...you know, stay in Iris' bedroom or something. N-not with...m-me…"

A small smile started at the corner of Belén's lips. "Have you ever had a girl up in your room?"

"Well…"

Belén promptly placed a finger over his lips. "I'd rather not get jealous in public."

"I just meant for you to have it easier," Barry finally managed to explained.

"I like the idea," Belén nodded. "Do you think Iris would mind rooming?" But she didn't wait to hear his thoughts when she grabbed him by the lapels and leaned forwards. "Or would you like me to room with _you_ instead?"

And once again Barry returned to his sputtering state. "U-uh, well, y-you could...i-if y-you-you want t-to…"

Belén laughed at him and pressed a short kiss to his lips. Barry knew she meant to laugh _with_ him and not _at_ him but it was still irritating that he could not get a damn sentence out in one go whenever they delved a bit deeper in their relationship. _He_ was always the one to lose his cool. She was always so collected it reminded Barry that she'd dated more than he had and that she probably was used to talking about certain things out loud.

~0~

The next day began just as it would any other day: a possible metahuman crime had been committed. Eddie was explaining the entire situation to Barry in the lobby hoping to get some help from STAR Labs.

"She's got no priors, no arrests, not even a speeding ticket. And everyone who knows this woman, coworkers, neighbors, say she's the kindest, nicest, most honest woman they've ever met," he finished describing their supposed to criminal - a woman named Nina who insisted she was being framed. "So, unless she woke up this morning and out of nowhere decided to become a criminal…"

"We should be looking for a meta-human," Barry concluded and gave a firm nod he would be looking into it.

"Yeah. One that can control people's minds. Coerce them into becoming thieves. Is that possible?"

Barry had to smirk. "Is that a real question?" Eddie had yet to become used to seeing all these different powers of metahumans coming to life.

Iris walked into the lobby at that moment, and purposely greeted only Barry. "Hi, Barry."

"Hey," the metahuman greeted back and already felt the mounting awkwardness.

"Do you know what sort of case my Dad is dealing with? He left pretty early and I thought I saw Belén and Cisco going with him?"

There was a quick exchange of glances between Barry and Eddie before one of them answered. "Personal visit," Barry sputtered. "I think Bells and Cisco just needed a ride."

"And that required Belén to stay the night with us?" Iris tilted her head inquisitively.

"Easier to get the ride?"

"Mm," Iris rolled her eyes, discarding this as a lame couple excuse to just be together. Without so much a word to Eddie, she bid goodbye to Barry and turned on her heels to leave.

Eddie sighed as he watched his girlfriend leave. "You better pray Joe and Cisco find something on Wells at that accident site, Barry, because I am just about done lying to Iris. About all of this."

Barry felt incredibly guilty to be causing such a problem between them and just gave a solemn nod of his head.

~0~

"Detective Green?" a young woman called to another woman, a dark brunette who was sitting at her desk. "There's someone looking for you outside in the lobby…?"

Veronica Green rose her gaze from her paperwork to see a familiar ombre-blonde standing out in the lobby conversing with another blonde woman. "Well I'll be damned," Veronica got up and told her co-worker, it was fine. She walked out to the lobby where her daughter stood. "Isn't this is a surprise? Belén, what are you doing here?"

Belén looked away from her friend to meet eyes with her mother - the same eyes she had inherited. "Hello mother, long time no see."

"Indeed. What are you doing here? Is Maritza here as well?"

"No this is strictly business. I need your help. Or rather, _we_ need your help."

"Who's 'we'?" Veronica's eyes drifted towards Belén's blonde friend.

Laurel Lance gave a shake of her head before the woman made her own assumptions. "I was just as surprised as you were to see Belén here." She'd only come in to retrieve some paperwork for a current case when she bumped into Belén outside the building. From there on, she asked the reason for the surprise visit only to receive "it's a secret matter for the moment" from Belén. She understood what it meant to have to hold a secret for a while and so didn't press for further details.

"Well, what do you need then?" Veronica began to question. She was still eyeing Belén suspiciously and things only got worse when Belén started to explain.

"There's this case my boyfriend's adoptive-father is working on-"

"- _b_ _oyfriend_?" Veronica cut her off in surprise. "Since when do you have a boyfriend again?"

"Don't give me that look," snapped Belén. "You would've known had you called once in awhile. But anyways, they need help on this case and I just thought I could help by asking you directly."

"Really?" Veronica eyed her daughter suspiciously.

Belén was no stranger with that look. Often times Maritza had given her the same look since she moved in with Belén. "Yes, although I'm here myself for a case on _my_ job."

Veronica couldn't come up with anything valid that would prove her daughter was up to something else. The expression of defeat settled across her face a moment after. "Where is this cop, then?"

"Getting settled at the hotel. That reminds me, Laurel, is it fine if I stay with you for a while?"

The sudden question unintentionally put Laurel on the spot. She knew the problems between Belén and her mother and she didn't want to make them bigger. Of course if she knew what answer would be good it would've been easier.

"Don't bother Laurel," Veronica cut in, "You can stay with me."

"If I do that you'll only spend your time scolding and lecturing me," Belén frowned. "I'd like to stay somewhere I feel _comfortable._ "

Veronica's eyes widened with offence. She looked to the side and then shook her head. "Do what you want, then. I guess I will talk to you and your friends later." With that, she turned on her heels and returned to the main offices.

Laurel blinked rapidly and turned to Belén. " _Belén…_ "

"Please don't lecture me too," the ombre-blonde sighed and headed for the exit. She knew what she said was just mean but she hadn't meant to say it out loud. It literally slipped through her lips and there was no way her mother would ever believe that. Belén didn't hate her mother, she loved her mother, but their relationship was a rocky one and it'd been like that for years.

"I won't," Laurel turned to follow, forgetting about her work for the moment. "I just think that maybe it was a bit harsh what you said…"

"Hm, sounds a lot like the beginning of lecturing to me."

"I get that sometimes getting along with your parents is difficult but we can at least make an attempt…"

Belén stopped walking for a moment. "I know, I know...I did come for another reason and that was to talk with my Mom so...I'll get to that."

"I hope you do," Laurel put a hand on her friend's arm and continued walking together.

~0~

"A shape-shifter?" Caitlin gaped after Barry told her and Dr. Wells of the metahuman he encountered with Eddie.

"Yeah, I literally saw a grown man, like, m-morph into a teenage girl," Barry said, and still mildly impressed himself. They had yet to encounter a metahuman who could copy someone else's whole identity.

"That's fascinating," Dr. Wells was equally impressed by this new metahuman. "Today's physicists have always regarded programmable matter as nothing more than a theory, but I guess your shape-shifter proves it can be done."

"Wait, so he, or she, or I... whatever. This person can actually transform into anyone they touch?" Barry blinked, the multiple ideas popping into his head.

"Yes, it appears so. That includes you, Mr. Allen "

Caitlin realized the implications and quickly explained to Barry so he would he more careful in the future. "Dr. Wells is right. If you are touched while you're the Flash, and he transforms into you, we run the risk of him exposing that Barry Allen is the man behind the mask. "

"Because at this point we don't know if the shape-shifter is capable of absorbing more than just your physical characteristics," Wells agreed.

This scared Barry a little more now. "Like he might be able to copy my speed? That would be bad. Got it. Hands off the meta-human."

"Hands off the meta-human," Wells repeated.

Barry sighed. "So how do we find someone who can transform into anyone?"

"Well, I guess like any problem, you just go back to the beginning. In this case, that would mean finding the first person the shape-shifter morphed into when they discovered their powers."

Barry soon got an idea. "Yeah, can you pull up the CCPD records of cases where the perpetrator plead innocent, even though they were caught on camera committing the crime?"

Wells nodded and set to work on the computer. "You're good, Barry Allen. You're very good." In less than a minute he had hacked into the police cases and pulled up a string of files all alike in one aspect. "Look at this. Multiple crimes of this manner all dating back to a month after the particle accelerator explosion."

"And the first one was?"

"Jacob Fisher. A teller at the Federal Credit Union. Claims he was innocent, and was framed by his best friend, a Hannibal Bates."

Barry nodded and grabbed his hanging coat off an empty chair beside them. "I'll pass this along to the CCPD, see if they can track him down." He gave a short glance at Wells, feeling like if this was a normal moment and he didn't suspect Wells to be the Reverse flash he would probably say a thank you. Well, he had to keep the charade up. "Thank you, Dr. Wells."

Of course he then saw the sharp glance Caitlin threw his way. She was still adamant they were all wrong and she wasn't afraid to show it.

~0~

Later that night, Belén had informed Joe that her mother would be taking them to the scene of Wells' car accident the next morning. Taking advantage of their free night, Belén invited Cisco to have dinner with Laurel. The three were walking down a busy street, intending on having a nice dinner at a place Laurel knew.

"Laurel's been one of my closest friends from Starling since I was a kid," Belén was explaining her relationship with Laurel just so that there wouldn't be any confusion.

"Till she cut me loose for the Central City kids," Laurel joked with a matching smile.

"Not my finest moments…"

Cisco smiled at the two. "So you've basically known each other since you were kids?"

"Yup, we started at the same elementary school and partial middle school," Laurel nodded. "That's why I get to know who she moonlights as," she nudged Belén on the side.

Cisco's eyes widened, taken aback for a second. "So you know…?"

Laurel laughed. "That you, Caitlin and Dr. Wells help the Flash and the Azalea fight metahumans?"

Cisco's eyes widened even more as he looked straight ahead. "Well then."

"Oh don't act so surprised," Laurel chuckled once more. I'm sure you're more than used to this sort of world since you know my friends. John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, and Oliver Queen."

"Three people who have absolutely nothing in common," Cisco immediately said, like a reflex. "As far as I know."

"Give it up, Cisco, she knows Oliver's the Arrow," Belén patted his arm as the man went into another fit of shock.

"I'll make it better," Laurel decided and stopped the two from walking by moving up ahead and turning to face them. "Because I'm the Black Canary."

Suddenly this was no more of a laughing matter. "Stop playing," ordered Cisco, dead serious. Belén knew how much he loved the Black Canary and he wouldn't stand for this sort of a joke.

"It's true," Belén nodded. "She's the one who helped me convince Oliver to train me, along with Felicity of course."

"I love you," Cisco declared and poor Laurel looked so embarrassed. "I mean, I love the way that you beat up criminals."

"She's the justice you can't run away from," Belén proudly said then looked at Laurel thoughtfully. "You should get that engraved somewhere..."

"Thanks," Laurel bashfully said. "But Cisco, since this is all out in the open now, do you think I could get some technical expertise?"

"Anything for the Black Canary," Cisco affirmed fast.

Laurel dug into her purse and pulled out a small black and silver, circular, device. "I've been using my sister's sonic device. I was hoping you could help... modify it?"

"Oh Cisco's great with that sort of stuff," Belén said happily. "I'm sure he could give it a cool upgrade."

Cisco had taken the device to gave it a brief look and had to agree with Belén. "Yeah. I think I've got some ideas!"

~0~

The next morning, Belén was up and awake getting ready to head out. Staying over at Laurel's allowed Belén to be what she wanted to be from the start: _comfortable_. She was still intending on keeping a close eye on her mother for the duration of her stay, but she fully believed it was better to do it from a distance. As she went around getting ready for the day, she could hear Laurel doing her own business out in the living room, probably through the phone.

Belén spotted her own phone laying on her bed stand and felt the urge to see how Central City was doing, more importantly how Barry was doing. She felt her face warm up as she realized she just missed him. Knowing there was still time before her mother would stop by, she headed for her phone to make that call.

She was a little anxious as the ringing went on and on without an answer. For a moment she believed Barry wouldn't answer. Just as she was about to give up, she heard his "hello".

"Oh thank God," she mistakenly blurted.

"Bells? Is everything alright!?" Barry was quick to worry.

Belén just chuckled to herself, confusing the man for a second. "Sorry, I was just, um, happy that you answered. Nothing's wrong, Barry, I just...missed you."

"Oh…" Belén could imagine his dorky smile on the other side. "I miss you too, honestly."

Now it was Belén's turn to worry about him. "What's happened?"

"Well, you might as well know since you'll probably hear about it sooner or later," Barry took a long sigh pause. "There's this metahuman that can literally shapeshift into anything he wants, anyone he wants. And last night, he impersonated Eddie and shot two officers."

Belén gasped. "Oh my God," she covered her mouth as she began to realize the implications.

"Eddie's being framed and I have to find the metahuman or else...he could go to jail for a long time."

"I'm sure you'll catch him, Barry. In the meantime, maybe keep a close eye on Iris. I know she says she's mad at Eddie but I know she loves him and this is going to devastate her."

"Yeah, no, I'll look after her." There was a long pause before he spoke again. "So, have you, uh, found anything over there yet?"

"We're going to the accident scene in a bit. I'm actually waiting for my mother to pick me up."

"You're not staying with her?" somehow, this did not surprise Barry at all. He knew Joe and Cisco had taken rooms at hotels, but he thought Belén would stay with her mother.

"No, I'm styaing at Laurel's. I'd rather not argue with my mother and just study her from afar."

"How's she taking that one, exactly?"

"Um, a bit pissed but nothing out of the normal. Oh, by the way, she'll probably start hounding me about my new boyfriend she didn't know about…"

"Please don't describe me as a dork," came the request a minute after, making Belén laugh. "I'm serious, you think that's cute, but parents do not find that cute. No one wants their daughters to end up with a 'dork'."

"But you're my fast moving, singing scientist," Belén tilted her head, chuckling to herself as she remembered the iconic duet he sang with Caitlin. "And I've got the video to prove it."

"I can't believe you still haven't deleted that video," Barry huffed.

"You were cute," Belén tried not to laugh again so that she could prove her point.

"Belén?" Laurel knocked on the door. "Your mother's here."

Belén lowered the phone a bit to call back. "I'll be out in a minute - thanks Laurel!" Afterwards, she put the phone back on her ear and started rummaging through the room to find her bag. "My mom's here."

Barry chuckled lightly. "Try to get along, Bells. She's your mother after all, and I'm sure she really just wants to spend some time with you. Isn't that also the reason you wanted to go to Starling?"

Belén sighed and gave a nod of her head as if Barry could see it. "Yeah. I guess it's just hard not to automatically snap at her."

"Try having some coffee at least...just a moment where you can talk with her and...tell her anything you want. Anything," Barry hoped she would understand that he had no problem if she wanted to tell Veronica about the Azalea and the Flash. It was all up to her.

"Thank you," Belén said softly. There came a pause afterwards and the next time Belén spoke she did with a swelling heart. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," Barry said within the next second.

"I'll talk to you later, okay? And please keep me posted about this metahuman and Eddie's case."

"Of course. And you be careful, alright? Don't let Black Canary over there bring you to one of Oliver's crazy missions."

Belén laughed softly. "No, no, I'm strictly the Flash's partner now in _all_ the senses." She then imagined Barry going red on the face which made her laugh.

"I miss you but I don't miss that, stop it!"

Belén only stopped laughing because she knew she needed to go. "Okay, okay, it's much more fun to do it in person when I can see you. I might video chat with you next time."

"Alright, bye!"

"Bye…" Belén bit her lip and hung the call up. She took a moment to fix herself and think about what was going on back at home.

Eventually, she emerged from the hallway and found her mother impatiently waiting in the living room. "There you are," Veronica rose from the couch, putting one hand on her hip. "I'm sure Detective West is just as annoyed by your tardiness as I am."

Belén couldn't help make the face she did as she walked further in. "I severely doubt that on account he's not impatient."

Veronica heard her remark but didn't respond to it. Instead, she motioned to Belén to hurry up. "Thank you, Laurel," she said before walking out first.

"Good luck," Laurel smirked as Belén walked past her.

Belén sighed and closed the door behind her.

~ 0 ~

Despite the cold weather, Belén, Joe, Cisco and Veronica Green were situated where Wells supposedly had his accident that killed his wife. The road was solitary since there were no travelers at the moment, but it was pretty cold too.

Cisco pulled out from the van a long contraption that resembled a metal detector. Belén laughed as he excitedly activated it. "Now what on Earth is that, Cisco Ramon?"

Cisco wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh even more. "I'm listening for anything that emits an abnormal sound wave, Bells. I need this."

"I bet you were that sort of boy that asked for like a chemical set from Santa for Christmas."

Cisco snorted. "Uh, I believe you are referring to your nerd of a boyfriend, Barry Allen. Ring a bell?" Belén mocked a feigned offence as Cisco smirked and went on his way.

"So who's this little boyfriend of yours now?" demanded Veronica.

"You've met him, Mom," Belén turned back to her, arms crossed. "At Dad's funeral. Barry Allen, remember him?"

Veronica looked to the side as she tried configuring the name to the face. "Wait a minute," yes, it was coming to her now, "Isn't that the foster kid Joe took in years ago?"

"He's Iris' adoptive brother, basically."

" _Him_?"

"I'm sorry, is that disappointment I'm detecting from you?" Belén scowled.

"I know the case of his parents-"

"-then you should know his father was falsely accused. And anyways, I don't understand what this has to do with him."

"It's complicated, Belén, and you should know that just by looking at his backstory."

With a long sigh, Belén let her arms hang loose on her sides. "Mom, for this past year I have been one mess after another, and Barry has helped me put myself together again. I like him, a lot, and I know that he likes me too. Isn't that what matters in the end?"

"Yes, I suppose, but you should never be so dependent on someone like that," Veronica's words were more heavy in meaning than Belén would've liked. She shook her head and walked ahead of her mother, preferring to focus on the accident than continue with this conversation.

~0~

Barry was having a complicated time getting Eddie to be released, and since he thought that drawing Hannibal Bates out as the Flash was the best option he went for it. He hoped somewhere between his search and finding Bates he could come up with a way to avoid touching, lest he want a double Flash in the city. During his sprees through the streets, he heard a loud commotion coming from a pharmacy store. Thinking it was a petty robbery, he zipped in ready to snatch the criminal...when he came face to face with Plasticine and Pixel.

"Knew it'd get him," the girl, Pixel, smirked and let the cashier go. The poor cashier ran out in an instant. "Seriously? I was just asking for some medicine. Drama king."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Barry didn't think these two suddenly got into the pharmaceutical black market. He moved around the place and eventually heard a scouring noise.

Plasticine emerged holding a couple bottles of medicine in her hands. When she saw the Flash she froze in terror - something that Barry took notice of and wondered why. It wasn't like they hadn't done this many times already.

"What are you doing?" he eventually cut the silence, especially when he saw from the corner of his eyes Pixel jumping over the counter for the cash register. He sped over and promptly flipped Pixel back over the counter. He admitted it felt nice finally catching that one by surprise. She always bested him.

Plasticine watched her partner groan on the floor, but she still didn't move. Instead, she looked up to Barry. "Go. We're just getting medicine for..."

Though she trailed off, Barry knew exactly what she was going to say. "For Rayan? Yeah. I know he's sick and listen to me when I say that we can help him." For some reason, Barry thought he saw a speck of hope flash across her face, but of course Pixel wouldn't let her succumb to it.

"We're not idiots," the platinum blonde jumped back on her feet. "You'll just throw us into the same place you've got Azul in. Rayan's going to die before he lets STAR Labs help him. Though maybe that's exactly what his dear sister wants to do: let him die."

"She would never," Barry spat and took a steps towards her. "Don't you ever imply that again."

"Oh sorry, did I strike a nerve? Seriously, you don't even try to hide that schoolboy crush anymore, it's disgusting," Pixel glanced back at Plasticine and was confused to see the woman so frozen in place. "The hell is wrong with you? Do something!"

"I have to get these to Rayan," Plasticine chose to make a getaway right there and then, leaving Barry and Pixel dumbfounded.

"Did she just...?" Pixel blinked, her thumb languidly pointing after Plasticine.

Barry didn't think twice and went straight for Pixel. The woman screeched when her body crashed into a shelf of medicine bottles. She shook her head to free herself from the stars she was seeing, but Barry returned with the intention of knocking her out. She put together her string of energy and attempted to deviate his way by shooting at him. Barry zigzagged to avoid getting hit but just as he reached her, she disintegrated and reappeared at the doorway. He turned around, already frustrated because he knew she was about to lead him into another chase.

But he did anyways, and unfortunately, just like the times before, she bested him again.

Still, it didn't mean he would forget Plasticine's strange behavior.

~ 0 ~

"Can you tell me what we're looking for here?" Veronica walked alongside Joe on the road while they waited for Cisco to find something. "I'm all for mysterious cases but you understand that since my daughter is involved I'm a bit concerned."

Joe could understand that completely, but he could not reveal their true purposes lest he want to put the woman in danger as well. Besides, Belén had made her choice loud and clear. "It's a private matter thing, but I assure you Belén is well taken care of."

"Yes, I hear she has a new...boyfriend?"

Joe knew that implication and nervously chuckled. "You understand that wasn't my story to tell right?"

"I do," nodded Veronica, although her suspicious eyes betrayed the answer. "And you also understand it wouldn't be my first choice, right?"

Joe downed his initial annoyance with her judgement and only out of courtesy looked away. "Well, it's not really our choices now, is it?"

Veronica looked at her daughter who was busy helping Cisco on the other side of the metal bars lining the road. "I know I am not the picture perfect mother, and I probably never will be, but I _do_ love my daughter. When I look at her right now...I can tell she's carrying a lot more weight than the last time I saw her. Things are bothering her and I'm worried. Can you promise me she's safe? And happy?"

"Right now, I think she is," Joe replied. There were stark differences between the young friend Iris used to bring around the house at times and the metahuman that so happened to become Barry's partner and girlfriend. Still, like he said before, it wasn't his place to tell Veronica anything about Belén's metahuman side. He couldn't promise the safety Veronica wanted to hear.

"Joe!" Cisco suddenly called and the two adults looked over to see him and Belén looking down at the ground with wide eyes expressions. "I think we got something."

Quickly, Joe and Veronica moved over the bar to where Cisco and Belén stood.

"Tachyons. Little bits of time travel," Cisco said excitedly.

"Shall I get the shovel?" Belén anxiously looked up. Cisco gave her the nod and so she quickly ran to get it.

"What are tachyons?" asked Veronica, vaguely recalling the word from her ex-husband's work. "David used to mention it in the years before we divorced."

"It's...just science stuff," Cisco slowly responded and thanked Belén for being so quick. The woman came back holding the shovel which Cisco took in order to begin digging.

He made a pretty decent hole right on the area the tachyon signals originated from. His shovel hit something bony-looking and he quickly retracted. Joe leaned over and saw what it looked like. He pulled out a forensic brush from his jacket and bent down to brush dirt off the thing.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," Cisco's face was growing pale the more dirt was uncovered. Belén placed a hand on his arm for comfort.

"Okay, that is definitely a hand," Joe said after a good brush off happened.

Cisco swallowed hard. "Okay, see, I thought it was a foot, but a hand is just as bad. That is freaky."

"That is _proof_ , Cisco," Belén began to smile as she realized the implications.

"I'll need to test it to be certain. I'm gonna grab my kit," he handed the shovel to Belén and started heading for the van.

"Okay-" Veronica began reaching for her phone inside her jacket, "-I'm gonna have to call this one in-"

Joe quickly sent a look to Belén asking her to stop her mother. Belén reacted fast and turned to her mother. "Mom, please don't do that." Veronica had barely taken the phone out when Belén spoke up. Belén recognized the arched eyebrow and sighed. "Mom, please, this stuff-" she gestured to the excavated hand, "-is dangerous, alright? And it'll get even more deadly dangerous if you involve the others."

"Annah-Belén just what are you doing?" Veronica's eyes narrowes suspiciously, and very much of fear.

Belén saw it and walked forwards, letting the shovel land behind where she stood. "Mom, don't worry. I can take care of myself, and I promise you that nothing is going to happen to me. This stuff, it's just...just a case, that's all. _Please_ , for me, keep this between us."

Veronica looked at her daughter with such a worrisome expression that it took Belén aback.

~ 0 ~

"So you actually found something?" Laurel was asking Belén of the investigation over their lunch date. "Was it a body?" Belén wished Laurel wasn't as into the case as she apparently was. But she supposed this came with the job of being the Black Canary.

"Yeah...an old, musty, corpse," Belén crinkled her nose as if the scent was still filling her nostrils. It truly felt like it was still there. "Cisco is examining it right now."

"So what happens if it does turn out to be what you guys think it is?" Laurel reached for her club soda and sucked on the straw.

"Well, for one, Barry would be a little relieved, and happy...but on the other hand it could prove to be the most dangerous thing our team has ever come across."

"And I thought Oliver was good at scary stories," Laurel lowered her soda, about to continue when she caught sight of their third friend coming towards them. "She's here."

Belén shifted to look back on her chair and beamed when she saw Felicity Smoak approaching their table. "Fancy seeing you here," Felicity chuckled as she gave Belén a hug before taking her own seat at the table. "Usually I'm the one making the trips here."

Belén smiled. "Believe me, it's a surprise for me too. I haven't been in this city since my parents divorced."

"I know," Laurel made a face.

"Well, is anyone else here with you?" Felicity inquired.

"Um, just Cisco and Joe - it's a business trip, actually."

Felicity tilted her head suspiciously at her. "Hmm...suspicious…"

"It's about Wells," Belén left it at that. "But listen, I actually need a huge favor from you."

"Shoot," Felicity leaned forwards, always up for a task.

"It's about my mom, and, well, my brother."

"Metahuman turned bad?" Felicity asked for a confirmation.

Belén nodded. "I recently discovered that my co-worker, Noah, was actually in league with him and Plasticine. Barry and I have his laptop and we just...well, it looks like Rayan's been spying on all of our family, including our mother. I just want to know if...he's tried making contact with her."

"You want me to check who Detective Green has been talking to lately?" Felicity raised an eyebrow, glancing at Laurel momentarily.

"I know it's wrong but it's for a good cause," but as Belén said this reasoning she averted both her friend's eyes. "I need to know that she's safe out here."

"I'll do it, I will," Felicity said first, "but don't you think maybe you should tell your mom and sister what's really happened to Rayan?"

"If I tell them that Rayan isn't dead but in fact trying to kill me, it will literally break her heart," Belén shook her head. "There's no need. If Rayan hasn't called them or anything, I want it to stay that way."

It was better if they remembered Rayan the way he was before the Particle Accelerator.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

So I decided to split this chapter in two parts because I felt it would have a lot of content. So this one primarily focused on Belén and the next one will deal with more of Central City's problems. Still, get ready for some aaaaangst. I'm sorry but we're getting to the end of the first story so you know everything's coming down now ;)

But how good was that surprise Laurel Lance appearance hmm? ;) (Long live the Black Canary!)

 **For the reviews:**

 **LadyRedStar** : I loved writing that dinner scene too lmao. And yes, Maritza seems to be coming around so I wonder what she'll do next hmm? ;)

 **orangezauber** : Aww, thanks so much! I'm glad you love the story! I hope you continue liking the story as it goes on! :)


	25. In Central City

"What the hell was that?" Angie demanded to know for the odd behavior of her partner earlier.

The two were splitting money from their earlier hit of a bank. It was to their luck that the Flash hadn't stopped by.

"Would you keep it down?" Maritza peered into the hallway of Angie's apartment to see if Rayan would come out. He'd been asleep all day and with the meds Maritza stole from the pharmacy, they hoped it would help ease his headache pain.

"He's out like a light, believe me," Angie said carelessly and dropped Maritza's share of their cash on the table. Just as Maritza was going to reach for it, Angie slammed a hand over the cash. "Now what the hell was all that at the pharmacy? You ran out and left me with the Flash. Not that I don't like going on a run, but what the hell?"

Maritza swallowed hard and averted her eyes from Angie's cold gaze. "I...panicked. So I ran."

"You _panicked_?" Angie repeated, of course not buying it since they were almost pros at stealing and dealing with the Flash. "He wasn't even moving. He was giving you the same old crappy line of helping. You just ran out of there like a scared little kid."

"I didn't feel like fighting, that's all," Maritza forced Angie's hand off the money. "I need this for my share of the rent."

Angie rolled her eyes and leaned back on her chair. "You know, you've been acting pretty weird lately."

"My brother seems to be going crazy, enough to kill Belén, so excuse me if I'm a little on edge," Maritza silently counted each bill to make sure Angie hadn't ripped her off. The platinum blonde wasn't above that.

Angie smirked. "How's Belén taking that? Still traumatized or what?"

"It's not funny. I never signed up to hurt my little sister."

"And yet that's all we've been doing. We hadn't actually physically harmed her - well, besides the fact I shot her but that was before we knew she was the Azalea - but each psychological punch is almost the same as a physical punch," Angie said so proudly it actually made Maritza feel sick. There was no remorse in Angie, it only seemed to make her happy that Belén suffered.

It was a revolting sight for Maritza. _What the hell am I doing?_ She shook her head. "I have to go. Mrs. Andrews is watching Axel for me."

"Why? You lost your job as a kindergarten teacher a while ago," Angie loved to remind Maritza of that detail every time she could. "Can't you just bring him along?"

Maritza scowled at Angie. "I would never bring my son anywhere near you and your delusional ass. And if I lost my job, it's because I've been taking care of Rayan."

"Poor Maritza, torn in two," Angie swayed her head. "But you know what, you might as well start bringing your kid around here since this is what his mother does for a living now. Maybe you could even start teaching him the ropes."

Maritza felt an actual inkling of hatred for _herself_ when she realized that Angie was making some sort of sense. Axel was her pride and joy, but if he were to ever know what his mother did when she was away he would probably hate her. The mere thought made tears rush to her eyes.

~0~

While Barry went back to a search for Bates, or anyone looking to rob again, STAR Labs worked hard to aid him. Fortunately, it seemed like they caught a break.

Wells had pulled up a 3d figure of Bates' cells on the two computers against the wall and was explaining their newest findings. "So this Hannibal Bates has turned into quite the meta-human. Take a look. His cells have the ability to transmogrify at quite the rate."

"Which is how he can become anyone," Barry concluded grimly.

"Which is how he can look like anyone," corrected Wells. "Because he cannot appropriate your memory nor your powers."

Barry beamed as he realized what that meant. "Got it. Hands on the meta-human!"

"Hands on the metahuman," Wells nodded. "And to help you do that, Dr. Snow has concocted a solution we believe will stop him."

Caitlin nodded as well and moved over to one of the tables where her newest work laid. "Yes. I've made a serum that will create a cortical reaction around his cells." She picked up a metal casing that contained a serum attached to a ready needle. "Deprive those cells of their electrical charge, his shape-shifting days are over."

Barry moved closer to see it better. "Wow, that's great work."

Caitlin nearly had a heart attack and flinched him away. "Thank you. Um... no need for a hug or anything like that."

Barry looked at her a moment, obviously confused until he remembered what Bates did to her. "Sorry," he said despite both knowing it wasn't anyone's fault but Bates.

Wells heard the beeping noise coming from the computers and moved there to see what they had found now. "Oh, Barry. We got a ping from your cell phone. "Looks like Hannibal Bates is at the airport."

Barry smirked. "Payback time."

~ 0 ~

Dressed to hide his face, Barry scoped out the airport as just another pending traveler. He was beginning to get impatient as he began to believe Bates had already made his escape...until he saw the body scanners. There was an old woman with white hair whose body image had flickered between a man and woman on the computers.

 _Gotcha_ , Barry smirked.

The old woman, Bates, made brief eye contact with him and started hastily moving. On her way, she touched a guard's arm and morphed into him. Barry wasted no time running after Bates as himself until he could get Bates somewhere less public. Fortunately, as the guard, Bates stumbled into a pipeline room and thus the Flash caught him.

"Hannibal Bates," Barry stepped forwards.

Bates shook his head. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else." Barry raised an eyebrow, amused he was still trying to play the game of innocence. However, Bates took him by surprise when he morphed into Caitlin right before his eyes. "It's me. Please don't hurt me…" And then 'she' swung forwards.

Barry blocked the second blow by throwing Bates/Caitlin against a metal cage wall. He had another momentary stop when Bates morphed into Iris who then cleared some blood off her face. Now Bates/Iris jumped up and started another fight. Barry was able to block him off in nearly every attempt, eventually throwing him backwards.

Angrier, Bates morphed into none other than _Pixel_.

"Oh, of course," Barry rolled his eyes. Woman was annoying enough and now he had to deal with a carbon copy. "Let me guess, you met her at the bank earlier?"

As Pixel, Bates launched several kicks and twists, actually managing to get the speedster to the floor for a moment. But that lasted shortly as Barry kicked a foot forwards and hit Bates on the knees. As Barry stood back up, he saw Bates morph yet again, and grew tired of it when he saw Plasticine standing across him.

"Dude, I don't have all day," Barry kicked a groan. "Pick one and stick with it!"

'Plasticine' swayed her head, mocking him apparently, and went for another round - unbeknownst to him the last one. Perhaps it was growing tension against the real Plasticine, or maybe he truly was getting bored, but Barry gave an unusual hard punch across the face that knocked the metahuman down. However, the mask Plasticine typically wore had cracked and fallen in two. Barry stumbled back when he saw Maritza Palayta looking back at him.

"No...that's...that's _impossible_!"

From STAR Labs' point of view - through the security camera - they had also seen the biggest plot twist of their lives and couldn't stop gawking.

"Is that…?" Caitlin leaned forwards to get a closer look.

"Well, isn't that a thing…" Wells put his hands together as he examined the clear face of Maritza.

When Bates began to rise again, Barry shook off his initial surprise and finally pulled out the serum to use it. He plunged the needle into Bates' shoulder then stepped back when the effects began taking place. Bates' body morphed inconsistently from one person to the next, among those Caitlin, Eddie, Iris, Pixel and Maritza. Eventually, as Maritza, she screamed and fell to the floor unconscious.

All Barry did was stare at the fallen metahuman, his brain rapidly processing what he'd seen...what it _meant_ …

His eyes roamed the ceiling till he saw the security camera.

~0~

"Thanks," Veronica took two yogurts off the weigher and turned towards the table Belén was sitting at. Belén was staring at her phone, presumably waiting for something. "Don't tell me, the boyfriend hasn't called?" Veronica put down the yogurts and slid Belén hers.

Belén looked up from her phone with an unusual smile. She'd read Felicity's text that confirmed no one strange had made any contact with Veronica, which meant she was safe and sound (as much as a cop was anyways). It relieved Belén that Rayan was at least leaving their mother out of their problems. "Actually, he did. And he's really nice, alright? So can you lay off bad cop mom?" Veronica rolled her eyes and instead handed Belén a spoon. Belén took that as a truce.

"Thanks," Belén dipped her spoon into her pumpkin spice yogurt. She hummed with delight as soon as the cinnamon taste touched her tongue. "Still so good."

"It's still your favorite?" Veronica asked despite seeing the answer right in front of her. Her daughter hummed and nodded.

"I remember when we used to come here every Saturday," Belén remembered the family outings they used to take when they were younger. Every night they would end it with some frozen Yogurtland.

"I have to say I'm surprised you wanted to come here...with _me_ …" Veronica dipped her spoon into her own yogurt - a mango flavored one.

Belén understood what Veronica meant and couldn't help feel a twinge of guilt. "Mom, I don't hate you. I know we don't have the best relationship but I could never hate you. You're my mom."

Veronica stared at her daughter with less of that coldness she usually carried. "Sometimes it seems like we just can't get along."

"Well, to be fair, and not to poke jabs at you but...you haven't really been there for us since you and Dad divorced," Belén pointed out as matter of factly as possible. "When you moved back to Starling...you moved back. To be honest, it kind of felt like you abandoned us."

"I didn't mean to," Veronica said all too fast, though Belén did detect some guilt in her mother's tone.

"No, I don't think you did," Belén honestly said. She put her spoon down for a moment. "But it's what it felt like. And you can't expect me to forget that in one day."

"Move back here," Veronica's request came as no surprise. Belén expected that conversation from the moment she saw her mother. "You and Maritza and Axel...what are you doing in Central City anymore? Your father's dead, Rayan is dead... Maritza's probably struggling to make ends meet on her own. Come back to Starling."

"Oh Mom," Belén sighed. "Maybe Maritza can consider that but I can't. I have my job, I have my friends...I'm already missing Barry like crazy and it's only been like two days. I could never come to live here." Belén didn't want to say out loud that she'd made her own life now, and it was basically too late to go back to the old style Palayta family life. There were metahumans to deal with, friends she loved, a boyfriend she didn't want to leave behind...her brother who needed her help. Starling City had ceased to be her home a long time ago.

"Still, you can come visit us," Belén offered the alternative a minute later. "Axel would definitely love to have his grandmother around."

"Wouldn't bother you if I stopped by?" Veronica asked considering the last time she visited they'd argued like crazy.

Belén took in a breath and sighed. "Of course not. We'll just have to be on our best behaviors around Axel."

Veronica actually chuckled. "That should be interesting."

Belén smiled with genuine amusement.

~ 0 ~

"Axel? Start picking up your toys now, it's bedtime," Maritza Palayta called from the kitchen as she washed the remaining dishes. When Axel didn't respond, Maritza called again. "Axel? Listen to Mommy now, please."

Still no response.

Maritza sighed and finished washing the last dish before heading into the living room. She found her son was sprawled on the large couch, fast asleep already.

"Of course," she smiled and shook her head, about to move forwards when there came a strong gush of wind that took her out into the backyard. She stumbled backwards a couple steps, disoriented with hair sticking to her face. "What the hell!?"

"Maritza Palayta," the Flash stood across her, his face partially hidden from the darkness of the yard. Just as well because Barry had never felt so furious in his life.

"Wh-what...what's going on…?" Maritza straightened up and pushed her hands through her face to clear her vision of her hair. Her eyes soon widened when she saw who stood across her. "Flash..."

"Plasticine," Barry didn't hesitate to respond back with.

Maritza stiffened in her spot, eyes almost popping out of her head from how wide they'd gotten. "...how...?"

"You ran into a shape shifter earlier in the bank you and Pixel robbed," Barry stepped towards her. She was visibly pale now and she didn't seem to remember that she could move. "I saw your face. I know who you are."

"I-I don't...I don't..." Maritza closed her eyes and brought a hand to her forehead. She sighed but didn't flinch when Barry chucked a CD to her feet. "What's that?" her voice had even lost its panic now, which didn't go unnoticed by Barry.

"That's proof that you are Plasticine, and before you think of anything else, you should know I've got plenty copies including the original."

A strange, small chuckle slipped through Maritza's lips. "Of course you have that. You _are_ smart as Belén always says." Behind his mask, Barry's eyebrows knitted together with confusion. Maritza didn't need light to know what he was doing. "I know it's you, Barry. I've known for a while now."

Barry had frozen in place but he wasn't going to leave now. He brought his hands up and pulled the cowl of his suit down. "How?"

"My sister just couldn't be cheating on Barry Allen with the Flash. She's not that type of woman. Plus, she gives you the same look whether it's civilian form or metahuman," Maritza bitterly smiled. "Small world."

Barry stared at her for the longest of minutes. "Why, Maritza? You've been fighting your own _sister_ -"

"-I didn't mean to hurt her!" Maritza exclaimed. "I didn't think Rayan would be so sick that he would actually attempt to kill Belén!"

"But before that - you've been fighting her and hurting her! How could you?"

Maritza's eyes glimmered with tears. "I don't know," she honestly answered. "I haven't known what I've been doing for months now. I mean, I started doing what I do because I needed the money. When my husband died I couldn't make ends meet so I...I started stealing food and money...and then my brother found me."

"How could you even accept to do everything you've done so far?" Barry wanted to stay calm but each time he thought about the things she and Rayan had done to Belén it just became too hard. "You murdered in cold blood!"

"I am _broken_ ," Maritza sniffled. "I've been broken since the Particle Accelerator went off. I lost my husband when I shouldn't have. My brother was kidnapped by a mafia group and had to slaughter the lot of them just to survive. Do you know what that _does_ to a person? And why? Because of STAR Labs. Because of Dr. Harrison Wells. Because of that stupid Particle Accelerator. You run around the city acting like a superhero locking the rest of us up without ever stopping to consider how _we_ felt changing. I love my sister, I do, and I regret hurting her - I do - but I can't just leave my brother on his own."

"You can bring him to STAR Labs where he can get some help-"

"He will never step foot on that place," Maritza gritted her teeth together. "He despises everyone in there, including Belén now. And when he finds out that I've known who you are, he'll hate me too."

"You're gonna tell him, then?"

"No. He's smart enough to figure it out, though."

"Not under that delusional state he's getting into-"

"-I am not leaving Rayan!" Maritza snapped but she could see this argument going in circles and she was just tired. "So...what happens now? Are you going to arrest me? Throw me wherever you've put Azul in?"

Barry sighed loudly and walked up to meet her face to face. "You can either tell Belén everything yourself...or I will." The mere thought about revealing everything to Belén put both Barry and Maritza into terrified states.

"I can't do that, it'd break her heart," Maritza's remark seemed ironic to Barry considering everything they'd done so far. "It'd go to my Mom...to my _son_...I can't tell them anything."

"Then I will," Barry said.

"It's not your secret to tell," Maritza snapped again. "You can't tell her anything."

"Maritza you can't keep this quiet! The only reason I'm not locking your ass up right now is because you've got a son in there-" Barry nodded towards the house, "-and a sister who both love you. But you _will_ have to turn yourself in when you tell Belén."

"I will do no such thing," Maritza defied him fearlessly.

"That's your only option," Barry kept his stance coolly. "Belén comes back tonight and you better have your story set because tomorrow I'll be here again. My courtesy will be to not have you arrested in front of your son."

"You'd leave my son without a mother?"

"Maritza, I lost my mom so I know what he'd go through but you know what? At least Axel would know that his mother faced the consequences of her actions like an adult."

Maritza pursed her lips together and glared at Barry. She wanted to hate him so badly...but knowing who he was, and how happy he made Belén...she couldn't do it. It made things worse when he actually made sense. "Get out of my house," she whispered. She didn't flinch when Barry sped out from the yard.

Slowly, Maritza turned to the house and walked back inside. Her mind was racing with all the options she had, which really wasn't much to begin with. She returned to her sleeping son in the living room and felt her heart jolt when she realized that no matter what she did...she would lose her son tonight.

~ 0 ~

The precinct elevators dinged as its doors slid open and allowed Barry into the reception. Stepping out, the first thing Barry saw was Belén by the staircase, her fingers rapidly typing on her phone. Images of his visit to Maritza flashed through his mind but Barry wanted to just focus on what they'd found in Starling City...and on Belén herself. He missed her a _lot_.

"Belén?" his voice initially startled her but the moment Belén saw him she beamed and put her phone away as fast as possible. She ran towards Barry and threw her arms around his neck. Barry laughed and hugged her tight. The images of Plasticine and Maritza rushed back into his head.

"Oh my God I've really missed you," Belén felt ridiculous as she breathed his scent in, reminding her of what he smelled like and even of what he felt like. Yup, completely ridiculous. But she felt good now that she was with him again.

"Me too," Barry mumbled and planted a kiss on her hair.

Even through her thick coat, she relished in the warmth he provided her with. She pulled her head back to meet his gaze, letting Barry see her wide smile. "Felicity and Laurel say hi. I didn't get to see Oliver but, fun fact, my mother knows about you and she's not that happy."

"That's a...fun fact...?" Barry said slowly.

"She hates like half the things in the world, it's not that big of a deal. But...we kind of did have a nice outing with our favorite yogurts and she kind of said she'd visit us soon. She never does that, Barry," Belén's happiness only made Barry dread even more of what would happen once Maritza came clean. "What's the matter?" Belén picked up on his reservation and wondered if he was already afraid of what Cisco would tell them in a bit.

"Nothing, I..."

"Is it because of what happened with that shape-shifting metahuman?"

The question made Barry flinch on the spot. Belén blinked when he retreated from her arms. "You already know?" his voice even shook from fear.

"Well, Caitlin practically blurted it out when she came in. Barry, the guy impersonated you so it's not cheating," Belén chuckled, missing the look on Barry's face. Of course that had been nowhere near what he was thinking of. "Poor Caitlin still felt like she needed to tell me. But I know that my Barry would _never_ do that to me," Belén reached for the lapels of his jacket and gently patted them down. She leaned forwards and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, smiling afterwards.

Barry had to smile back. "I'd never," he agreed.

Still, his lingering stare made Belén wonder if there was something else going on that she didn't know about. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

At first, Barry didn't say anything. He only moved one hand to her cheek and stroke gentle circles over her skin. "You know that I would never let anything nor anyone hurt you, right?"

Although initially confused, Belén nodded her head. "I know that, course I know that."

"Remember that," Barry said in an almost pleading tone.

"Okay…"

He caressed her face one more time and kissed her. Belén sighed as they pulled away. "Oh, I cannot express how much I missed that."

"Me too," Barry said, for once smiling genuinely at her.

"I hate to be a stickler of the mud but I suppose we should go upstairs," Belén pointed an index finger at the second floor. "We found things...bad things…"

Barry looked up and dreaded those findings, but of course he had to face them. He needed to know.

Coming up to the lab, there was a metal, examination table set up in the middle where a rotten corpse had been placed. Caitlin was grimacing constantly at the sight, arms crossed, yet she had a look of devastation across her eyes.

She knew.

"So we ran the DNA," Cisco began to explain again, this time for Barry, "It's the perfect match. That body is the real Harrison Wells."

"But if this is Dr. Wells, then who have we been working for this whole time?" Caitlin tore her eyes from the corpse to meet her friends' looks.

"Dr. McGee said that after the accident, Wells became a completely different person. It's because he _is_ a different person," Barry said, realizing. This man was the responsible culprit for the murder of his mother.

"Which means we have absolutely no idea what he's capable of," Belén swallowed hard. "Besides the fact, you know, that he's ready to kill whenever and whoever."

And so, from there on out, the group decided to be on high alert at every corner.

~ 0 ~

The following morning when Belén walked down the staircase, she expected Maritza to be on her way out for work but the fact there wasn't even a lingering smell of breakfast confused Belén. She looked around as she walked into the kitchen. There was no sign that anyone had made breakfast that morning, so Belén wondered if Maritza had run late and skipped the meal altogether.

"Better wake Axel up," she figured and headed back for the stairs. Mrs. Andrews would be waiting for them anyways since Belén had to go to work in an hour.

"Axel?" she poked her head into Maritza's bedroom and saw the four year old fast asleep on the bed. As she walked into the room, Belén noticed that Maritza's side of the bed seemed to be untouched. She then noticed a white folded paper sitting on the night stand. "Axel, it's time to wake up, honey," she called nonetheless and went to get the paper.

Axel started opening his eyes and saw Belén on the other side of the bed, reading. "Good morning, auntie Belén," he politely recited what his mother taught him to say every day.

"Good morning..." Belén's eyebrows were knitting together in confusion as she read the letter.

"Did Mommy leave my milk? I want chocolate milk and pancakes!" Axel sat upright and rubbed his eyes, waking up fast even for a kid. "Auntie Belén, did Mommy leave my milk?" he pouted when Belén didn't answer. He got up on the bed and jumped his way to Belén's side. "Auntie Belén!"

Belén quickly folded the letter and put on a smile for her nephew. "Uh, yes, she did. Of course she did," she gently made Axel sit on the bed. "No go brush your teeth, okay?"

Axel bared his teeth. "I know how to brush my teeth really good!"

"Of course you do," Belén ruffled his dark hair and sent him to the bathroom. When she was alone, she finally allowed herself to think about the letter. She started rushing back and forth in the room, finding most of Maritza's clothes gone as well as a photograph of Maritza, her late husband and Axel that usually stood on the night stand.

It was all gone...just like Maritza.

Belén didn't know what to do, but the first thing she felt like she needed to do was get ahold of Barry.

Unfortunately, during that moment, Barry was preoccupied with what Cisco was showing him and Caitlin over at STAR Labs.

"After the accelerator exploded, I built a 3-D model of S.T.A.R. Labs so that I could pinpoint exactly what caused the malfunction," Cisco explained briefly, eyes glued to a computer screen screen.

Caitlin gaped. "And you never ran this test?"

"Of course I did. I just never had any reason to look at any areas outside of the pipeline or the cortex. It's a big building," Cisco remarked. "Lots of places for Wells to hide something-" he stopped when the computer bleeped as a new room appeared on screen.

"What is that?" Caitlin moved her chair to be closer.

"That shouldn't be there…"

With one look between the three, it was decided to investigate. With one of Cisco's devices - a handheld device that resembled a yielding sign - they walked down the corridors, leading up to the pinpointed secret room. Barry used his speeding to vibrate the wall that turned out to be a sliding door.

They walked into a dark room that was illuminated by the Reverse Flash's costume propped on a mannequin behind a glass case, something that stopped all of them in their tracks. Eventually, the lights turned on and revealed a small, rectangular room with a miniature white podium placed at the end. Barry moved forwards and barely grazed a hand over it when something on the wall in front of him illuminated him.

"Oh, my God," Caitlin was the first to make a reaction as they all saw a large newspaper headline in the form of a hologram.

' _Flash Missing - Vanishes In Crisis_ '

April 25, 2024.

"The year…" Barry said, eyes lingering on the futuristic date set beside the headline.

"The _writers_ ," Cisco redirected Barry's gaze to see the authors of the article below the headline.

Barry knew the writers well, in fact - by the looks of it - he knew one _perfectly_ than the latter.

It read: ' _co-written by Annah-Belén Allen and Iris West'._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yeeeeah...a lot kind of happened...whaddya think? ;)

(And I posted this earlier since it was a 2-parter chapter)


	26. I Am Who I Am

_"After an epic street battle with the Reverse-Flash, our city's very own Scarlet Speedster disappeared in an explosion of light…"_ Caitlin stopped reading from the futuristic article to look over at Barry, the man still in shock. "The date is from the future," she said, although she didn't know if this was a good or bad thing honestly. Everything was so confusing. "April 25th, 2024."

Barry looked for the sentence that Caitlin had read, forcibly tearing his eyes from the article's authors underneath. "When I fought the Reverse-Flash at Christmas, he said that we'd be fighting for centuries."

"But if that's true then it would implicate that Dr. Wells, or whoever he is, is also...from the future," Caitlin blinked, quickly looking back to the article.

Cisco spoke up finally, but not about the current problem. "I have to say, I'm really digging the brighter red suit. And the white on the symbol? That's _dope_." But then his initial happiness faded. "Wait a second. Suppose we now change the color on your suit. Will it be because we got the idea from this picture? That would mean we're living in a causal nexus. This... wow. This is so trippy. Like, Marty and the Polaroid trippy. Not as trippy as the name on the byline though." And then he smirked. "Annah-Belén Allen?"

There was an indescribable expression on Barry's face. Once again his eyes were drawn to that name. It gave him a little...ping? No, no, a definite wham in his heart. That was his Bells, _his_ Bells with his name. At some point, despite everything bad, they'd gotten married. She was his _wife_.

Oh boy, that made his mind spiral with different thoughts all at once, some of them leaving him a bit red.

"Mazel tov? Cisco slowly went, both he and Caitlin assuming Barry was still in the middle of processing the news.

But suddenly, an entirely different voice responded. "Hebrew. Ancient language of the Jewish people."

"Uh-uh. What the hell was that?" Cisco quickly scanned the room.

Barry snapped out of his stupor momentarily to face the problem. "Is someone here? Hello?"

A blueish holographic head appeared just in front of the three, giving them a fright. "Good evening, Barry Allen."

"Uh... H-hi…" Barry and the others took a large step backwards. "You know who I am?"

"Of course. Barry Allen, director of Central City Police, CSI Division."

"Director?" Caitlin repeated. "I guess you get a promotion."

Gideon continued, "Also known as The Flash. Founding member of…"

But Barry didn't care to listen that ending. "What are you?"

"I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness."

"AI. Sick," Cisco said, clearly impressed.

"You know Dr. Wells?" Barry asked.

'Yes."

"Do you know who he really is?" further asked Caitlin.

"I don't understand the question," Gideon responded.

"I... I mean, what is he doing here?" Barry explained better. "W-why did he come here?"

"To kill you," the bluntness in Gideon's response made everyone freeze.

Cisco's phone vibrates and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. "Wells is in the building."

Caitlin snapped her head his way. "What? How do you know that?"

"I put a tracker on his wheelchair," Cisco explained and immediately Caitlin shifted disapprovingly. "Which, if we're wrong about him and he _is_ paralyzed, I'm going to hell for that one. He's in the Cortex. Ask questions fast."

Barry had many questions to ask but there was one he _needed_ answered. "Why did he kill Nora Allen?"

"Because he was angry."

"About what?"

"That you escaped."

Barry felt dumbfounded, honestly, to learn that his mother died because _he_ hadn't, basically.

Cisco, who remained on his phone tracking Wells, spoke up. "He's on B level. He's coming this way."

"What does he want from me?" demanded Barry.

"For you to be The Flash."

"Maybe that's why Wells let the particle accelerator explode, so that you could become The Flash," Cisco remarked from behind.

"Why?" frowned Barry, who took a moment to think. "I mean, for what reason?"

"Guys, we got to go. He's almost here," Cisco said, tapping Barry on the arm. "Hurry!"

But they had only made it halfway when Cisco stopped them. "Wait a second. Wait. What if HAL over there tells Wells that we were in here?" he pointed to Gideon whose holographic head remained in place.

"That would be bad," Caitlin blinked.

"If I can get into its operating system, maybe I can disable its memory core…" Cisco theorized, and prompted Barry to ask Gideon for her operating system. After taking a look at such system, Cisco scoffed. "Yeah. Nope. That's not gonna happen." He quickly checked his phone again and panicked. "Guys, he's in the corridor."

Feeling desperate, Barry resorted to just simply asking, "Gideon, could you just, like, not tell him that we were here?"

Gideon surprised them all by responding, "Of course. I will accept any command given to me by you."

"Barry. Come on," Cisco motioned them to get going again. "We got to get out of here."

Barry shook his head and remained right where he was. "Wait, wait, wait. Why would you accept my commands?" he asked Gideon.

"Because you created me."

That answer left Barry even more stupefied. He let the others drag him out of the room.

~ 0 ~

"Hey," Iris tapped Belén's desk and laughed when Belén's eyes snapped up at her in shock. "Snap you out of some good fantasies?"

"What - no!" Belén shook her head, lowering her pen she'd been chewing on while thinking.

Iris put down a freshly printed out paper on the desk and tilted her head. "Then why did you look so spaced out?"

"I just...I'm worried over Maritza. She's been gone for a week and I still don't know where she is nor why she left," Belén leaned back against her chair, almost biting blood off her lower lip from the force.

"And she hasn't even tried to call Axel yet?" Iris asked.

Belén shook her head again. "No, and _that's_ what gets me. She just got on up and left us."

Well, that wasn't entirely true, Belén thought. Maritza left a short, cryptic letter for them explaining she was leaving. Of course, it didn't really explain anything.

 _Belén, I'm sorry. I am so sorry but I can't do this anymore. I've been drifting for months now and my actions have finally caught up with me. I'm not brave enough to do it, to face you all, so the only thing left for me to do is go. I love my family, and I love my son but now Axel is better off without me. I'm not the mother he deserves. Please look after Axel, you're his favorite aunt and I know you love him almost as much as I do._

 _I'm sorry._

 _\- Maritza._

"It _has_ been a week since she left...why not go to the cops?" Iris was cautious in how she said that. She didn't want to make Belén think about the fact something bad could've happened to Maritza.

"Yeah... I've been putting it off hoping that Maritza would come back, but...maybe it _is_ a matter for the police," Belén figured she would talk to Barry about it and then decide if STAR Labs could handle the job right now - what with investigating Wells being an almost full time job - or if she should really leave it to the police. After all, she did have ties to the police both in Central City and in Starling.

"You want me to come with you during lunch?" Iris was up and ready to help if Belén needed her, but Belén shook her head.

"No, thanks. I just have to do some thinking first."

"Okay," Iris didn't even want to know what it would be like being in Belén's place at the moment, but she would be there if Belén needed her. "Do you want to talk about some new topics for this week's paper?"

"Yes _please_ ," Belén admitted it was nice getting to some normal issues of life, even if it was just for a bit. Iris was really good at reminding her that she did have a normal life despite everything.

Iris beamed and slid her paper over to Belén. "Okay, so check this out. I've been trying to figure out more about that blue guy that showed up at the Mayor's auction bit - remember him?"

"How could I forget?" Belén mumbled as she began skimming the single paper.

"Well, I thought he reminded me of someone and then I realized that it was the same man who once broke into this place, with that Plasticine woman and Pixel, right before you were kidnapped," Iris said, beginning to speak a little more fast the more she got excited over it.

"Also remember that," Belén made a face.

"But all of a sudden he's just disappeared. And do you know the crazy part? That other woman, Plasticine, she's sort of gone too…"

"So you want to write about them now?" Belén wasn't sure if this was the best idea, writing about her brother's comrades. It could provoke them into coming back and worse.

"Yeah, I mean, I think no one's realized that we got a got like a little band of evil metahumans in the city," Iris smirked. "I thought we could be the first. And...you know…" she leaned forwards on the desk to speak in a hushed tone, "...maybe you could ask the Flash to give you some info about them?"

"Iris," Belén sighed, although mildly amused.

"Oh c'mon, he has a crush on you so you know he'd do it," Iris playfully jabbed Belén on the arm. "Pleeeeeeeeease?"

"I can't believe we're still on that topic," Belén rolled her eyes and handed Iris her paper back.

"Be grateful I haven't told Barry about that," Iris said, playfully pointing at Belén. "He'd go ballistically jealous. Who wouldn't be if _he_ was the competition?"

"Iris," Belén rubbed her forehead.

"N-n-n-no, don't worry, I won't tell anything about it," Iris promised seriously. "But could you please just ask about the metahumans? Please?"

"Okay, fine," Belén said, just to get Iris to leave it alone. "I will see what I can do…"

Iris beamed and promised her she would earn a nice Jitters if it all went well.

~0~

Barry could not find himself focusing on anything right now that didn't get him a step closer to taking Wells - or the Reverse Flash - down. It was all so confusing not to mention horrifying. It was no wonder Singh called him out on his lack of productivity at work. But then, it only lasted a minute or so until Singh too was distracted with something else of his life - marriage. That only sent Barry into a further state of overwhelm. That theme wouldn't stop, and it appeared it wouldn't stop with Eddie either.

"Oh my God!" he nearly fell backwards when Eddie showed him the engagement ring meant for Iris, tucked inside a small turquoise box.

Unfortunately, Barry was not the only one to see.

Belén could barely contain her squeals as she crossed the lobby to reach the two men. "I saw a turquoise box! Where's the turquoise box!? Show me the turquoise box!" she wiggled her fingers excitedly.

Eddie was half amused and did as told lest she hit him. Belén gaped at the beautiful ring inside.

"Oh my God," she smiled and looked up at Eddie.

"You can't tell her!" were his first words, making her chuckle.

"Secret for a secret," she raised a hand in solemn swear. "So have you thought of _how_ how you're going to do it?"

"Well-" Eddie was going to explain his dilemma but Belén, just too excited, cut him off as she began to ramble on much like her custom was.

"Oh! Are you going to do like the traditional, but cliche, hide-the-ring-in-a-piece-of-cake thing? No wait-" she looked to the side, quickly thinking of something else, "- it was a breadstick. I can't remember what movie that was. Or are you going to have like an airplane fly in the sky writing the words 'Iris, will you marry me?'" she made a gesture of each word with her hand. She stopped smiling a little when she saw both men staring at her. "What?"

"You _thought_ about all this?" Barry was the one to speak up, though after clearing his throat.

"Well, what kind of girl _hasn't_ thought about her wedding?" she countered, crossing her arms. "Haven't _you_ thought about it?"

And just thinking about the future article again made Barry quickly shake his head. "No! I have never thought about us getting married, nope…"

Belén, more amused than annoyed, pointed out, "I never said about us. I just asked in general." Barry stiffened, his face quick to give up a flush. "But it's nice to see you're already nervous about it." She laughed and turned to Eddie. "So, what's the plan?"

It was then that Eddie could tell them his problem. "I was gonna propose tonight. All right. But I went to Joe to ask for his blessing. He said no."

"He did?" Barry repeated, confused.

"Repeatedly. I need you to talk to him, find out why…"

Barry made an apologetic face, "Uh, Eddie…"

"Look, I know me asking you like this, it's a little awkward," Eddie amended, "But you know how heartbroken Iris is gonna be if she finds out that Joe's not on board."

"He will most definitely do it, Eddie," Belén assured the man, then placed a hand on his arm, beginning to giddy up again, "And then we can plan the perfect proposal! Eek!"

"Oh, thanks. I appreciate it so much," Eddie said to both of them, and couldn't help get excited when he added, "And so will the future _Mrs._ Thawne. Iris Thawne..." he tested the name, chuckling, "Sounds pretty good, huh?"

"I think she's going to wanna hyphenate," Belén teased when Eddie left, chuckling to herself as she looked back at Barry and added, "That's what I wanna do."

"I have a feeling you wouldn't," Barry mumbled to himself but the moment she turned her head in his direction he jumped to change the topic. "What can I do for you, Bells?"

Belén got serious pretty fast, and judging by her face Barry knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. It was the topic he'd been desperately trying to get brave enough to be honest about.

"I'm really worried about Maritza," Belén felt like a broken record the way she talked so much about her sister's disappearance. "It's been a week and she hasn't called, texted, or _returned_ from wherever she left to. I've tried looking for her myself in her old neighborhood but she's just not there. I'm thinking about finally going to the cops. I mean, for all I know, that letter could've been forced or forged. Do you think STAR Labs has time to look for Maritza or should I just go directly to the cops?"

In all the time Belén had been talking, Barry had tried to get some courage to speak up. He was trying - _really_ trying - to tell her the truth about Maritza. He honestly never thought Marirza would choose the coward's way out and abandon her son and sister, leaving _him_ to tell Belén the truth. Over the past week, he'd been working hard to convince himself that it wasn't _his_ fault Maritza left. After all, he offered her the chance to come clean to Belén - he offered her the opportunity to mend her mistakes. It wasn't his fault Maritza chose wrong.

That was a difficult thing to accept when he kept seeing Belén so concerned and even scared over what happened to her sister.

"Barry?" Belén's voice brought him back to the present.

His eyes snapped back to her and realized he'd been silent for over a minute. To her it must have appeared like he hadn't heard a word of what she said. Fortunately, Belén was much smarter.

"What's going on with you? You've been so...distant with me. And whenever you do that, it's because you're not telling me something," she crossed her arms and looked him over, up and down.

"I-I just have a lot on my mind," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. It wasn't a lie, but the way he said it made Belén even more suspicious.

She looked at him in her special way - a look all too difficult to look away from - and frowned. "So get one thing off your mind right now. I'm all ears."

 _Stop being a coward_ , Barry berated himself. Belén deserved the truth and he really wanted to say it but...he couldn't imagine her reaction. Already she was having trouble dealing with her brother's reality and now he was going to add a second villainous sibling? But how could he word it to avoid a bad reaction?

" _Barry_ ," Belén said with annoyance lacing her tone. Perhaps it was because of everything on her plate that she got so irritated with him so quickly. She turned away and started heading for the elevator.

"Belén, c'mon," Barry sighed and went after her.

"Barry, I have enough problems and the last thing i want is an argument. So-" she pressed the elevator button, "-I'll just go and cool off. Maybe it'll give you time to speak up about whatever it is you're keeping from me."

"You're mad at me..." Barry threw his head back, scrunching his face for a moment.

Belén stepped into the elevator and turned to him with a flat face. "No, I'm irritated. And tired. And confused. But I've told you all about it. So sad you can't do the same."

Barry felt the sting of her words and even more so when the elevator doors slid shut. _Thanks a lot, Maritza_ , he felt actual anger towards that woman.

~ 0 ~

"She's mad," Barry crossed Joe's living room, retelling the argument he had with Belén with Cisco and Caitlin. They were waiting on Eddie and Joe to come back from work so that they could talk about their findings in STAR Labs.

"Well, here's an idea - and it might be a good one," Cisco sarcastically turned his palm up beside him, "But why don't you just go ahead and tell her that Maritza is Plasticine."

Caitlin, who sat next to Cisco on the couch, was shooting Cisco a glare. "Because obviously that's not an easy thing to say." Barry made a gesture at Caitlin, thanking her for being much more understanding.

Cisco shrugged his shoulders. "Better Belén be angry at Maritza than Barry, right?"

"Dude, that's not it," Barry brought his hands to the back of his head. "I _am_ trying to tell Belén it's just..." he once again gestured to Caitlin, "It's not an easy thing to say. I mean, how am I supposed to explain to Belén that, apart from her brother, her sister is also an evil meta who has killed and robbed and basically made our lives miserable for almost a year now."

"Yeah, okay, I see your point but Maritza ran and if you don't say anything it'll just get worse."

"Cisco's right," Caitlin said after a minute. "You decided to give Maritza a chance and - I'm sorry if it sounds mean - but you basically gambled and lost."

Barry loved his friends but right now, he was irritated that they were right. Thankfully, Joe and Eddie arrived so Barry jumped at the opportunity to change topics. Once Joe learned what Belén had, he couldn't help become the father figure who scolded the children after they did something bad.

"Really? For three very smart people, that was really stupid. What if Wells had caught you in that…"

"Time vault," Cisco thought to help.

"Okay," Eddie shook his head, looking confused, "I know we've seen a lot this past year, but time travel?"

"I did it," Barry blurted and quickly received looks from the others. "Or I will do it, I mean…"

Eddie looked flatout done. "Excuse me?"

"One of the two speedsters in Barry's house the night his mother died was Barry. I mean, The Flash," Cisco began to explain. "He was there. Which means that one day in the future, Barry will travel back in time to that night."

"Okay. Actually, I wasn't talking about that. I kind of already time traveled," Barry said, thinking it was best to just tell them the truth now. "By accident."

"You did what?" Eddie asked.

"I was running to try and stop a tsunami from hitting the city…"

"And when was that?"

"A few weeks ago," Barry replied then looked at Cisco, "Right before you started getting those dreams."

"Oh, you mean the ones where Wells uses his super-speeding hand to shred apart my heart?" Cisco sarcastically said. "Those?"

"Yes, right. So, what if they're not dreams?"

Now it was Caitlin giving him a look. "What else could they be?"

"Memories. What if, that day, Cisco found out that Wells is the Reverse-Flash, and then Wells killed him? But when I ran back a day, I changed the timeline so that event never happened."

"If it never happened, how can Cisco remember it?" Joe asked thoughtfully.

"Because I'm clearly special enough to remember my apparent death," Cisco had answered pretty glumly.

"Maybe we should try to expand on those memories then," Eddie hummed. Cisco's eyes snapped to him, appalled at the idea. "I'm just saying maybe there's something else in those memories that could help us figure out this mess."

"He's right," Barry finally spoke up, the thoughts of the alternate word consuming him for a moment. "We have to access Cisco's memories somehow. Somewhere in his subconscious is the key."

"The key to what now?" Cisco frowned, seeing the others begin to go with the idea.

"Getting my dad out of prison."

"And how are we going to do that?" Eddie inquired next.

"We're gonna get Wells to confess to killing my mom."

And the idea was born.

~0~

"Auntie Belén, what are we going to have for dinner?" Axel asked for the third time as he and Belén walked down the street. Well, Belén was carrying him on her hip and doing her best to not drop her bag with her laptop inside. She'd already taken an early day off work and had to pick up Axel from a babysitter Maritza used to have, since Mrs. Andrews wasn't going to be home today. That babysitter had been pretty upset Belén was late to pick up Axel.

"Um, I don't know yet," Belén felt awful keeping Axel like this but she was doing her best to keep ahold of the bills now while maintain a solid babysitter for Axel and doing her full hours at work.

Axel was interested in her hair, never noticing how quickly his aunt was going down the block. "I'm hungry."

"I know, sweetheart, I know," Belén shifted him a bit and nearly dropped her bag had it not been for a sudden gust of wind catching it.

"Barry!" Axel grinned at the meta who'd appeared in front of them. "Hi!"

Barry offered the boy a light smile before looking at Belén, who wasn't smiling back. She reached for her bag, which almost caused her to drop Axel.

"Let me help you," Barry said after helping her straighten up.

"I'm good, thanks," Belén said curtly and held her hand for the bag he still held onto.

"Bells, don't do that," Barry quietly spoke so that Axel wouldn't catch on they were having a rough moment. "Let me help you into the house."

"I don't need your help," Belén thought that was the biggest lie she ever said. She always needed his help.

"Auntie Belén, I'm hungry," Axel let his head rest against her shoulder. "When can we eat?"

A sigh slipped through Belén's lips. She met Barry's look and felt guilty for letting her nephew starve just for her problems with her boyfriend. She didn't have to say anything for Barry to know, so she moved around him and continued towards her house.

"Can we have macaroni and cheese?" Axel asked her but Belén honestly couldn't see herself cooking at the moment.

"How's about some pizza instead, hmm?" Belén walked down the front yard and up the steps to her door.

"With pepperoni and sausage!?" Axel's head popped up from her shoulder.

"Of course," Belén put him down to search for her keys. She patted her pockets for a minute but stopped when Barry leaned beside her and stuck her key into the door. She dropped her hands to her side and kept quiet as Barry opened the door for them.

Axel ran right in. "Can I call the pizza? I want to order it all by myself!"

Belén walked in after and searched for phone. Once again, Barry stepped in with her phone and bag. She couldn't help glower as she snatched both items. "Thank you," she said politely. "You can go."

"Bells, c'mon," Barry reached for her arm but she stepped away.

"As you can see, I don't have time to argue again," she spoke quietly while her eyes watched Axel go for his toys left on the couch. "As of late, I don't have a lot of time in general."

"Then let me help you," Barry motioned to himself. He vanished and reappeared in all of ten seconds holding two boxes of pizza in his hands.

"Aww, Barry, I wanted to order all by myself," Axel playfully stomped his feet towards the dining table.

"Sorry, Axel," Barry smiled at the boy then looked at Belén, gesturing to the pizza boxes in his hands. Belén crossed her arms and stepped aside so that he could leave the boxes on the table.

Barry put down the boxes of pizza on the table and gave Axel a plate. Axel eagerly opened up the top pizza box and crinkled his now. "Ew, why is there chicken on this pizza?"

"Because that's your auntie's favorite kind of pizza," Barry glanced at Belén, the woman shifting on her feet. "Pepperoni, chicken and ham."

"Eww," Axel promptly pushed the box away and reached for the second box.

"Bells?" Barry called the woman over but she refused to move from her spot.

"Can I get my juice?" Axel turned back on his chair to see Belén. He put his hands together and pouted. "I promise I won't spill."

Belén hated having both of their eyes burning on her so she sighed and let Axel go on. "Only once juice pouch."

"I only have one left," Axel's reminder that she hadn't even gone grocery shopping made her slap her hands over her face.

"I'll go buy some soon, I promise," she dropped her hands and saw Barry coming up to her. "Look, thank you for the pizza, I'll pay you back-"

"-now you're just offending me," Barry said with a flat face. Belén rolled her eyes and shifted on her feet. "Belén, there are so many things going on right now that the last thing I want is to argue with the person I care about most. Really, I just want to hold you tight."

Belén looked up at him, and without saying it out loud, Barry knew she felt the same. "I'm so _tired_ ," she closed her eyes and slumped her shoulders.

"I know," Barry moved around her so that he could hold her from behind.

"Mrs. Andrews couldn't babysit today so I had to practically beg Maritza's last babysitter to watch him for today and she screamed at me because I was late picking him up," Belén started rambling and of course Barry let her go on until she'd need to breath. "And then I had to leave early from work so that I _could_ pick him up so that was a fun conversation with our editor. On top of that Iris is asking me to ask the Flash about some information on my brother, Pixel, Plasticine and Azul-"

"Auntie Belén!" Axel came running out of the kitchen waving his juice pouch above his head. "I need more juice!"

Belén shut her eyes and let her head hang. "And I have to go grocery shopping because I'm starving my nephew."

Barry only slightly smiled behind her. He knew she was under excess stress and it killed him that he held the biggest stress bomb she'd hear. He tightened his grip around Belén and planted a kiss on her head. "You're doing the best you can and look, Axel's doing just fine."

Belén raised her head to see Axel wiggling his bottom on his chair. He took a big bite of his pizza and hummed despite having a good chunk of food in his mouth. He looked like any ordinary four year old having dinner.

"I can't do this forever," Belén admitted quietly. "I'm his _aunt_ , I'm not...I'm not a mom. I don't know what to do when he cries at night. I definitely don't know what to do for dinner every night for a four year old. Me? i can just make frozen food and I'm good to go but he...he's _four_. He needs nutrients and vitamins that I have never looked at." She paused to take in a deep breath and exhale. "I gotta find Maritza."

Barry closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself to speak up. "Bells..." his arms let her go, allowing her to turn around. "Maritza..."

Belén watched him struggle with his words that didn't even spell a coherent sentence. It concerned her, honestly, when she saw how much conflict she saw on his face. "Barry," she put a hand on his arm, essentially stopping him in the middle of a stutter. "This thing that...you can't get off your mind, is it about me?"

Barry pursed his lips together and gave a small nod. "Yeah..."

"It's not good, is it?"

"No...it's not."

"I don't like being kept in the dark of things, you know that, but if you're having _that_ much trouble telling me...it has to be something really serious," Belén crossed her arms and did her best to not be so impulsive to get the information out of Barry. "I don't know what it is, but I really hope to know sometime this week."

That was fair, perhaps more fair than Barry deserved. He didn't know how, but he _would_ tell her the truth by the end of the week. He had to. "I promise you I will."

Belén took that deal with a nod of her head. She turned back to Axel and saw he was covered in pizza sauce already. "I also discovered that I am not good at getting four year olds to take baths."

Barry laughed behind her. "That's every four year old, Bells."

Belén groaned. The more she thought about things, the worse she felt. Knowing this, Barry endeavored to distract her.

"Make a list of what you need for groceries," he left her and came back with a pen and notepad.

"Right, cos I'll forget," Belén figured and took the pen and notepad from him. She jotted down the things she remembered straight off the bat and when she came to more stops, Barry started speeding through their kitchen.

Axel laughed from his seat. "Auntie Belén, what is Barry doing? Is he being silly?"

Before Belén could amswer, she felt the pen and notepad disappear betwen her fingers. Barry came to a stop in front of her. "Uh, so you also needed Cinnamon Toast Crunch, definitely more apples, some bananas, a couple more pasta boxes-"

"-spaghetti! I want spaghetti tomorrow!" Axel exclaimed.

"Gonna need more spaghetti," Barry sakd, pointing at Axel as a reason. "Does that sound like it's everything?"

Belén nodded her head. "Yup. I guess I'll get up earlier tomorrow before work and-" but she stopped after being slapped in the face by Barry's wind trail.

Barry returned a minute later with grocery bags but of course he put those away where he thought they belonged, since he never really went through the kitchen before. "Done!"

Belén raised her eyebrow at him, momentarily surprised but soon she started to smile. "Thank you," she walked up to him and hugged him tight.

Barry gave her a light sway and kissed her head. "Would you like to have some dinner?"

" _Please_ ," she chuckled.

~ 0 ~

The following night everyone save Eddie and Iris gathered in Barry's lab to conduct the memory goggle experiment. Caitlin had set up the controlling computer for the project while Cisco made himself comfortable on a small bed brought in for the occasion. It would, supposedly, allow Cisco to delve into the other world where his 'memories' were originating from.

"So, just for the people that don't speak geek-" Belén gestured between herself and Joe smiling innocently while the three scientists with them have her looks, "-how is this going to work exactly?"

"Yeah, Cisco is going to put the glasses on, fall asleep, and start dreaming," Caitlin simplified. "It's not that hard, actually."

Cisco scoffed as he took the goggles from her. "Yeah, except I'm pretty sure I die in this dream. If I go back into it, am I gonna die in real life? I mean, what are we talking about here? Is this Inception or Dreamscape?"

Joe held out a glass of milk for him. "Here. Drink this."

Cisco eyes said glass looking mildly offended. "What, am I five?"

"Just drink it."

Cisco sighed, figured why the hell not, and took the glass. "Okay, I'll drink it."

"You're gonna be fine, Cisco," Barry said as he took the now empty glass from him.

Cisco took I'm a deep breath as he placed the goggles on and laid down. Caitlin began to monitor. "Okay, the glasses are emitting a low-level delta wave which should help you fall asleep."

Cisco nodded. "Okay. I gotta warn you, though, usually it takes me a long time." But his slurred words betrayed him. "I mean... I'm not saying I'm, like... an insomniac or any…" he fell asleep mid sentence .

"Ah, so that's how you get him to shut up," Joe remarked, causing Belén to snicker.

"Now we know for when others start to ramble on and on," Barry ended up saying, and looked right at the ombre-blonde.

She gasped. "You'd do that to me?"

"If you keep insulting me," he shrugged.

"I'm so sorry," she said and kissed his cheek. "Better?" Barry nodded silently, although his smirk said it all.

"He's entering REM. It's working," Caitlin announced, sounding surprised her idea had worked.

Barry moved closer to speak with Cisco. "Cisco. Can you hear me? You're dreaming, bud."

Cisco suddenly spoke back, but his words were slow and dream-like. "Whoa. Guys, this is mad freaky."

"Okay, um, where are you?"

"Um, in the Cortex. I mean, I know I'm just dreaming that I'm in the Cortex, but it feels so real."

"Cisco, focus please," Belén said. "What exactly are you dreaming about?"

"Caitlin just left. I asked her to take Wells to Jitters."

Caitlin looked at the others in confusion. She had no recollection of such event.

"Why... why do you want Wells out of the lab?" Barry asked him.

"I think he might have tampered with my work. I need to check. Okay. Okay, I'm walking to the bunker." There was a moment of silence before Cisco sudddnly said, "Oh, man, I love this shirt. I thought the dryer ate it."

Joe had to laugh - the kid got distracted so easily!"

Belén, downing her own laugh, once again made sure Cisco focused.

"Okay, okay. All right. Now I'm running tests on the containment system. This data... It doesn't make any sense. All the supercapacitors... They were all still fully charged. There's absolutely no reason that the Man in Yellow should have escaped. Oh, my God. It was just a hologram. He tricked us."

Everyone now looked at each other stunned.

"Oh, God, Wells is here!"

"Cisco, it's just a dream. He can't hurt you," Caitlin reminded him.

"You better be right about that!"

"Eobard Thawne…" Cisco said, but it didn't sound like he was talking with them at the moment.

"Thawne? Like Eddie Thawne?" Joe asked, making the others think of the connection.

"You killed Nora Allen," Cisco continued.

"Nora? What about my mom?" Barry quickly asked.

"He's confessing," Cisco answered.

"Cisco?"

"He... he didn't want to kill her. It was you, Barry. He was trying to kill you."

Caitlin had gone back on the computer to read Cisco's vitals. "His blood pressure's 200 and his heart rate is 147. Guys, he's losing higher brain function. Cisco, you're gonna be okay. It's just a dream. You're gonna be okay."

But Cisco continued to grow in panic. "His hand... It's vibrating. He's gonna kill me! Oh, God!"

Caitlin went mad going between Cisco and the monitoring computer. "He's gonna have a stroke."

"Get him out of there!" Belén shouted frantically.

"Help me, please!" Cisco pleaded, still in his dream. Caitlin remained on the computer trying to get wake him up, eventually jolting him with a bit of a spark. "Aah!"

Caitlin gave him a sideways hug. "You're okay. It was just a dream. You're okay."

Cisco panted as he slowly came back to the real world. "Oh, God. It felt so real."

Barry felt his phone vibrate and picking it up he was greeted with Wells demanding where he was. Nervous, he couldn't come up with a right answer.

"A fire. A huge fire just erupted," Wells finally explained.

"A fire? Where?" Barry turned to the others, putting him on speaker so everyone else would hear.

"New Brighton. Bradford Tower High-Rise.c

Joe blinked. "I know that building. That's where Captain Singh's fiance works."

"On my way," Barry said, hanging up and speeding off

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, Wells was very good at keeping his charade of a kind man only wanting to help. He had helped Barry discover a new ability that enabled the metahuman to suck up all the fire in the site and save everyone. Things like this made Barry even more confused on Wells' intentions. Who goes through so much trouble to help the enemy just so that in the end he can kill the enemy?

Eobard Thawne, apparently - whoever that was.

That's exactly what Barry told Joe later that night when they returned home. If he didn't tell someone Barry was sure he'd go crazy. "We have to get him," he insisted, "I don't know how but we have to get him to confess." But then, another "bad idea" popped in his head. "He thinks of Cisco as a son, maybe.. maybe if we set everything up right, he'll genuinely let his guard down with."

Joe was on board with the idea, thinking for the moment it was the only one that would work. "Well, then we need to do a better job protecting him than I did protecting you."

Barry gave a tilt of his head, puzzled. "I'm not sure what that means."

"Barry, this is all because of me," Joe began, "I never should've let Wells take you from that hospital. None of this would've ever happened."

"If you hadn't let him take me, I would be dead, for sure," Barry argued back.

"But even then, I knew something wasn't right. Everything in my gut was telling me not to trust him, but I did, because I was so desperate to see you okay."

"Joe, this isn't your fault," Barry affirmed. "It's not your fault. Look, every bad thing that has happened to us - to _all_ of us - is because of him. And now he's gonna pay for it."

At that moment, the front door opened and Iris walked in, hearing the last of the words. "Who's gonna pay?" she asked distractedly while closing the door behind her.

Quickly glancing at each other, the two men devised a simple, yet plausible, excuse.

"Just a new criminal we're trying to catch," Barry said.

"Oh, hope you do then," Iris said, heading for the staircase.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Barry asked her, catching Joe giving him the warning to keep everything quiet. He headed out himself afterwards.

"Oh, I was going to stay over at Belén's tonight but I realized I forgot some of the things we use over here."

"Like what?"

"Girl stuff," Iris laughed. "Not sure you're actually interested in that, are you?"

"You caught me," Barry mocked defeat and began making his way to the staircase himself when Iris stopped him.

"You are a very bad boyfriend, though," she pointed at him, her accusation filled with purposeful exaggeration but still managing to get Barry worried.

"Why?" He frowned. Although then he started making up a list that could give more than sufficient reasons to back up Iris' statement.

But of course, Iris knew none of those and came out with something different. "You are supposed to be over there, not me!" She playfully hit him on the arm. "What kind of boyfriend doesn't stay with his girlfriend who recently started living all alone?"

"The...kind that hasn't been invited yet?" was Barry's answer, and he thought it was a good one.

Iris rolled her eyes at him. "You are so new at this."

"Walk me through it oh great one," Barry sarcastically waited for her.

Iris tried her best not to smack him for that and just continued to explain. "It's a big house and she's lonely there. I'm not saying stay every night but a couple times just to show her she isn't alone would suffice."

"That...makes some sense…" Barry said after thinking on it. "But, I mean, we haven't been dating for so long. Wouldn't it be kinda weird?"

"Only if you make it weird," Iris answered in a tone that implied it should be obvious. "This is your problem: you overthink everything. This isn't science. You don't have to stay in her room on her bed, hell you don't even need to spend the night there, just...wait till she falls asleep, wait until she's at peace and can sleep for the night."

"Yeah, I can do that," Barry nodded, moving to leave again when Iris stopped him.

"But for tonight, she's mine," she smiled cheekily and finally started up the stairs.

"What - hey!" Barry called after her.

"You snooze you lose! It's my night!"

"Unbelievable," Barry was left to mumble downstairs, resigning to a night without his Bells.

~0~

The next day, everyone was set in the bunker room where the old trap for the Reverse Flash was meant to be caught. Caitlin and Belén were the last to walk in, and the latter carried a red folder with a rather serious face.

"We just talked to Dr. Wells. He's attending a lecture downtown, won't be back until 5:00," Caitlin informed them.

"All right, Cisco, you know when he gets here you need to be working on the trap so he sees you set off the hologram," Barry said.

"Hold on, isn't that, in your dream, when everything went all…"

Cisco cut Joe off by making a rather shaking gesture with his hand, meant to hold something. "Kali Maaa Temple of Doom. Yeah, that definitely happened."

"Please tell me your super intelligence figured out a way around it?" Belén gave him a weary face.

Cisco smirked and nodded. "I'm ready for him." He turned and made it into the trap. "I originally designed the force field to keep a speedster from getting out. But I've reversed it. Now it won't let one in." Holding a small remote-like device, he pressed a button and made a reddish forcefield build around the trap then becoming invisible. He gestured Barry with an index finger to try it out.

Barry cringed internally as he prepared to take a whack from the barrier. "Back up," he warned the others as he got into position. Taking a deep breath, he ran straight for the trap...and was repelled strongly. He crashed into a metal, wheeling, table and landed on his side over the ground.

Belén rushed over to him. "Barry, are you okay?"

The metahuman turned on his back, eyes wide and blinking fast as he came back to normal. "Ah. It works…"

"Does it make me a bad girlfriend if I wanna laugh?" asked the struggling woman as she helped him sit upright.

"Absolutely," Barry sent her a face.

"Good thing I don't wanna then…" Belén looked away holding back the biggest laugh possible.

"Okay, as long as I'm inside, Wells won't be able to get near me," Cisco said as he stepped out of the trap.

"And Bells and I will be in the Cortex watching and recording everything that happens," Caitlin glanced at the woman to see if she was still coming with her.

"Yes," Belén turned around, setting lose part of her smile.

"And as soon as we get the confession we need to free my dad, I'm moving in," Barry said afterwards.

"So what do I do?" Eddie asked, looking at him for further instructions.

"Wells also threatened Iris, so if something goes wrong here, we need you to keep an eye on her until Wells is neutralized," it was Joe who had answered, and despite their problems Eddie took it seriously.

"I'll always keep Iris safe, Joe," he said in a low mutter and walked out of the room.

Confused, Joe looked at the others and was met with a sharp look from Barry. "What?"

"Come here," Barry nodded for Joe to follow. The two made it into the corridor where they could talk freely. "So, um, Eddie told me what happened, that you kiboshed his proposal."

Joe sighed. "That was supposed to be between him and me."

"I so agree with that. But I'm also curious," Barry admitted. "Eddie is a great guy and we both know he really cares for Iris-"

"I know that," Joe cut him off to agree, but it only confused Barry even more.

"Then why did you tell him no?"

"Because right now is just not the moment," Joe said as if it should have been obvious. "Wells is out there, looking for advantages, and if he knows about this...what do you think he's going to use against Eddie? Against us all?"

"Stopping them from getting married won't keep Iris anymore safe or put her in anymore danger," Barry clarified. "In fact, if anything, it'll just hurt Iris more to know if you don't agree to this."

Out of everything, Joe knew Barry was right.

~ 0 ~

"Everything's set," Caitlin announced after turning one of the computers off for when Dr. Wells returned.

"Positions, everyone," Cisco took in a shaky breath as he started leaving the cortex.

"Uh, Barry, wait," Belén grabbed the red folder she had originally brought with her and caught up with said metahuman just outside the cortex.

"Bells, we gotta-"

"Just one moment, please, it's important," she promised, gesturing to the folder. "It's about Iris."

"Wh-what's wrong with her?" Barry dreaded. For someone who didn't know anything about metahumans Iris seemed to get into trouble most!

"Last night she slept over at my place-"

"I know," Barry said, still disappointed Iris had beat him to it.

"She tricked me, Barry, she tricked me into getting information on metahumans to create this," Belén handed him the red folder for him to get a look himself. "She's created this entire profile - a _good_ case - about a conspiracy of the Particle Accelerator and STAR Labs."

As Barry began going through Iris' work he began to see the numerous cases of metahumans that had attacked the city throughout the year.

"She's connected dots. She knows that whatever was released into the atmosphere the night of the Accelerator was the night everything strange started. She knows how metahumans got their powers."

"U-uh…" truly Barry could not come up with any coherent words at the moment.

"She thinks STAR Labs knows about this," Belén finished with a sigh. "And she's pretty convinced this is how the Flash and the Azalea got their powers. Worst part is : she wants to _publish_ it."

And that's when Barry realized the problem. With eyes wide, he looked up to her concerned face. "We can't let her do that…"

"I know but it's a bit difficult shooting it down without making myself look suspicious," Belén pointed out. "She says this is what happened to my brother too. I only managed to get her to let me see all this but she's going to show you next - she's looking for the scientific perspective."

"Oh great, so now I have to shoot her down," mumbled Barry.

"Not shoot down but...maybe tell her it's all wrong?"

"I mean...I guess I could come up with some sort of story…" Barry sighed and closed the folder, already beginning to come up with bits of a good excuse.

"Oh thank you," Belén took back the folder, promising to keep it safe. "Knew you'd come up with something."

"I'll look into that tonight, promise," Barry assured. "Now I really gotta go," he planted a kiss on her head and rushed to get into position.

Belén turned to do the same in the cortex room.

~ 0 ~

Just as planned, Dr. Wells had returned about an hour after five and had gone first into the cortex room where Caitlin and Belén were - discussing Belén's current article. Upon asking for Cisco, he was directed for the Bunker room on account of Cisco 'finally figuring out what went wrong with their trap for the Reverse Trap'. Wells was out of there within the next minute.

When Cisco met with Wells, he no longer donned his glasses nor wheelchair.

"You're him," Cisco began the play, "The Reverse-Flash. Joe was right this whole time, wasn't he?"

Wells condescendingly laughed. "Good ol' Joe. Joe West had his doubts all along. Even from that first night in the hospital, Joe knew something wasn't right. Cops... as inconvenient now as they will be in a hundred years."

"You killed Barry's mother. I want to know why," Cisco demanded, knowing that was what Barry was waiting for - the confession that would set his father free.

Wells moved towards the man, cleverly explaining, "It was never my intention to kill Nora. But from my perspective, she was already dead. It just happened sooner than it was supposed to."

Barry looked at Joe helplessly after that 'confession' but Joe shook his head, whispering. "No. That's not an admission."

"You're not gonna get away with this," Cisco warned Wells, but it didn't look like his words affected Wells in anyway.

"I'm not gonna get away with it?" he instead walked for Cisco but as soon as he was an inch from the trap Cisco activated the force-field. "Oh, you're smart. You're smart, Cisco. But you're not that smart."

Cisco's smug face faded the moment Wells took step _into_ the trap.

Wells raised a hand meant to strike Cisco the same way that he had killed Cisco in the alternative timeline. Cisco stumbled back but the man was nearing him. Joe rose from his hiding spot with Barry, quickly shooting Wells with three bullets.

"No!" Barry panicked and sped to catch the bullets, but was only able to catch two of the three. The last one struck Wells right on the chest. "He didn't confess," Barry ran a hand through his hair as they stared down at Wells on the floor.

"Cisco!" they heard Caitlin and Belén running into the room. The two made their way towards the trap.

"Are you okay?" Caitlin asked their affected friend.

Cisco couldn't stop staring at the now-dead Wells. "Yeah. I'm never ever gonna sleep ever again, but, yeah, I'm okay."

"Tylenol works," Belén distractedly said, the corpse of the man who killed her father taking it all away.

"He's dead. He didn't confess. Joe, this was it," Barry felt an overwhelming helplessness fill him up. "My dad's gonna be in prison forever."

"Barry, I'm sorry," Joe profoundly apologized to him.

But then Belén yelped. "Oh my god - what is _that_?"

They all stared as 'Wells' corpse reverted back to that of the metahuman Hannibal Bates, without a face.

"I told you this before-" the real Wells spoke over the speakerphones of the room, "-I am _always_ one step ahead...Flash. Allow me to reintroduce to you Mr. Hannibal Bates and his incredible ability to transform into any person he touches. I knew that ability would come in handy. I did not expect it to come in handy this soon."

"You used him! Like you used all of us!" Barry shouted angrily, wishing the man would be there facing him.

"Well, he served a purpose. Didn't take much convincing. Just the simple promise of his freedom."

"You ruined my life! All our lives!"

"We stood by you after everything that happened," added Caitlin, pretty much matching everyone else's anger.

"I can see how this must be difficult for you to understand, but trust me, your lives now are so much better because of what I have done for you," Wells had the audacity to tell the group.

There, Belén had to speak up, full of anger herself. "You're saying that my life got better because you murdered my dad?"

"That was another accident," Wells revealed, fueling her up even more. "But what's one more alteration to the timeline?"

Belén raised a hand to her mouth, it was something else to hear that her father had - originally - supposed to live longer. She'd been robbed - her _father_ been robbed of his life because someone greedy had an "accident".

"Though I have to say I was never anticipating to create an evil version of Plasticine," Wells' words caught everyone's attention. "I guess I interfered too much with Maritza's timeline as well."

" _What_?" Belén immediately looked to the others to see their reactions. Seeing that no one, not even Barry, wanted to look her in the eye pretty much summed up that she was the only one out of the loop - well, her, Joe and Eddie.

"You want to kill me, go ahead. I'm not gonna fight you," Barry's words made Belén snap back to the present. "But just tell the police what you did. Get my dad out of prison!"

"I don't want to kill you, Barry. I need you," Wells corrected. "And…I also did not anticipate, as difficult as the past 15 years have been for me, how much I would come to love working with you. With all of you. And yet, that does not change what needs to happen."

"Then face me now!" Barry ordered in a loud shout.

"Oh, we will face each other again. I promise you. Soon. Very, very soon."

Cisco's phone vibrated with a new alert. "He's in the time vault!"

Barry wasted no time and sped out of the room, ignoring his friends' calls for him. He came into the time vault but only saw the empty costume display and Wells' wheelchair. What he did come across, however, was a wide panorama of various hidden cameras set all over his friends' environments. There was one of his lab at work, many in STAR Labs, some at Joe's, some even at Belén's home and work. But the one that stood out was that of Eddie's place.

"Oh my God, Iris," he soon realized she was the only one left out of the loop and thus the easiest to get to. Wells hurt everyone and Iris was the last one to deeply affect.

Everyone had relocated to the cortex when Barry returned.

"We have to find Iris," he told them.

"Why?" Joe asked, already alarmed.

"Wells. He's been watching all of us. He has surveillance footage set up everywhere. Our homes, my lab at the police station, Central City Picture News."

"Barry," Belén was scowling at him, of course furious with him and everyone else. "We're gonna need-"

"I'm sorry, I _tried_ ," Barry said before disappearing with a call to Cisco to get him the location of Iris and Eddie.

~ 0 ~

Just as Barry had feared, Wells had indeed gone after the out-of-the-loop person of the group. Eddie of course couldn't help with just one gun and was easily thrown to the side of the bridge they stood over.

Iris recognized perfectly the man in yellow but was frozen to her spot. "I know who you are. You killed Barry's mom. But you don't have to hurt anyone else."

But without saying a word, Wells raised a vibrating hand as he neared her. Iris' had never felt her heart beat so fast. Thankfully, Wells realized in time someone was coming and so left the place, but not without taking Eddie.

"Eddie!" Iris fell forwards in her shout but was kept sustained as Barry arrived.

"Hey, Iris. It's okay. It's me," Barry spoke through a modulated voice and with a blurred face.

"He took him. The Man in Yellow, he took Eddie-" Iris frantically tried explaining to him, thinking maybe he could catch up and find Eddie.

"I promise I will find him, okay?"

In tears, Iris stopped moving and looked at him. "What is happening?"

"Don't say anything to anyone. I swear to you, I will bring him back, all right?"

Iris saw that as he was going to leave her and reached for his hand, only to feel a struck of small electricity between her fingers and his when he sped off. And she remembered one person who had given off the SAME same feeling long ago. But that had to be impossible, because...because, well...he would...he would have told her…

"Barry?" she was left to wonder on the bridge.

~ 0 ~

The night was of a full defeat in all aspects. To learn that for a year you had been played was something indescribable. But now to know that not only had her twin brother gone dark, but her older sister too.

Betrayal came nowhere close to describing what Belén felt.

She sat on the couch holding one of her favorite photographs of her family and just...released her feelings. Axel had been put to sleep upstairs so she was free to cry as she pleased. She wondered where her body could produce so much water honestly, but it wouldn't stop. She looked at her family, her brother who had meant to be with her still. Her brother who wasn't supposed to get powers; her sister who wasn't meant to lose her husband. They were supposed to be there at home with her.

But Eobard had ruined that.

Maritza had meant to be living with her husband, Christopher, with Axel. Hell, maybe she would have even had their second child by now. She knew Maritza always wanted two kids, Chris had wanted the same.

But Eobard had ruined that.

And then her father. Her father, the true accident, had meant to grown older. He was supposed to be working at his beloved job. He was meant to be there for her, for greatest milestones. Now there wasn't even anyone to walk her down an aisle in years to come. She knew that was one of his desires. He had done it for Maritza and always talked about the day his littlest girl would one day marry and move out

Eobard ruined that as well.

And then there was her. She was never meant to have all these losses. She wasn't meant to be living alone with her nephew, wondering where the hell her sister was. She was meant to be a journalist who danced on the side. She was meant to be normal. But now there she was, crying her grief in a silent, lonely home.

Thanks to Eobard.

The faint knock on her door brought her no surprise. She got up, leaving the family portrait on the couch as she walked up to the door. She reached to open it, knowing exactly who was on the other side, but was reluctant.

"Bells, please open up," Barry quietly called from the other side. "We have to talk."

" _Now_?" she couldn't help the sourness in her voice. "Now you want to talk?"

There was a brief silence but Barry willed himself to talk. She deserved far more than what he gave her. "I tried to tell you, but...but I couldn't find the right way."

Belén leaned against the door, closing her eyes as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. She had thought about it, honestly, about the way Barry had been acting as of late. It made sense knowing what he knew about Maritza.

"It's my fault everyone's suffering. This Thawne man came after _me_ and he ended up screwing up so many lives to get what he wanted from me. Look what he did to Caitlin and Ronnie? To the _real_ Harrison Wells? And look at what he did to _you_. He hurt you and then he made _me_ hurt you. Maybe it would've been better if Iris never introduced us, that way you wouldn't be here now."

Belén leaned away from the door and turned around to open it. She met Barry's overwhelmingly guilt-riddened face. "I would _never_ regret meeting you," she said quietly.

"I ruined your family like he ruined mine. And you deserve better," Barry felt like that was the plain truth and it broke his heart.

"Thawne ruined our lives, Barry, not you," Belén cleared from tears from her face. "You should have told me about Maritza the moment you learned about it."

"I know-"

"-but I can understand it was a difficult thing to do," Belén said, honestly meaning it. If roles were reversed, she would have debated and kept quiet too. "But you-" she reached for both his hands and pulled him inside the house, "-are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and if it weren't for you, I would have cracked ages ago. You are the reason I stand here today, the reason I wanna help people. Because of you, I am who I am. We are not going to let Thawne get away with everything that he took away from us. We deserve better, and we're going to make sure we get what we deserve."

Barry nodded and pulled her into a much needed, tight hug.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Ah yes, we've reached that part of the story where things are gonna pick up and wrap up. I don't want it to end but I also do cos I want to post the next story so I'm basically torn in two .


	27. I Know

"So, you figured it out, then?" Noah laughed in Belén's face.

The ombre-blonde stood outside the pipeline, arms crossed, with a deep glare on the laughing man. She expected nothing less than this but it didn't mean it wasn't infuriating. He had known this whole time that Plasticine was Maritza, and much more that Maritza had been the one to get him to work at CC Pictures with her to be a _spy_.

"Maritza is gone and I need to find her and Rayan. Do you have any idea where they could be?" Belén got straight to the point of her visit.

Noah planted his palms against his pod's wall and smirked. "Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you a thing."

"Do you know something?"

"I've no idea where Maritza is but I'm pretty sure Rayan and Pixel are at the usual place."

Belén waited a moment before speaking again. She wanted to give Noah the chance to do something _good_ but it was clear that he was not on the same page. "I'm taking care of Maritza's son and he's asking for his mom. What the hell do I tell him, hmm? You may be evil but even you didn't hurt kids, huh?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "My eyes were on STAR Labs, and for the last time I don't know where Maritza is. If she hasn't appeared with your brother then maybe she's not with him either."

Belén pursed her lips and thought for another moment. She had thought that was a possibility too. Perhaps Maritza was on her own this time, without Rayan at her side. It would explain Pixel's solo appearances in the city lately. Plasticine had vanished. Belén wasn't sure if this was better or worse, honestly.

"You all played me, you _shot_ me...all I am asking is for you to tell me where Rayan or Maritza are, please," Belén wanted to spark the last shred of decency Noah had, but it appeared like there was nothing left.

He laughed so loudly that Belén was sure if there was anyone in the cortex they would have heard by now. "Forget it," she spat and moved to close the pipeline down.

"It doesn't even matter now, Belén," Noah started talking once her hand moved for the control panel. "Maritza's gone, Rayan is losing his mind, and Pixel will just destroy the city out of sheer fun. Your family's done - it's been done."

"We'll see," Belén upheld a glare as the pipeline shut down. But even when the pipeline was closed, she could still hear his laughter's echoes.

~ 0 ~

Rayan's finger boredly circled the cool metal of a pipe while Angie babbled on about the latest clothes she stole the previous night.

"Piece of cake!" she laughed and jumped to sit on one of the old crates of the warehouse. She pushed some of her hair behind her shoulders and looked over to Rayan only to find out he hadn't been listening to her at all. "Excuse me, I'm _talking_!"

"And if it was interesting, I would have paid attention," Rayan looked up from the pipe briefly to glare at her. "I asked you to go find Maritza and instead you steal from...Forever21?"

"It wasn't Forever21, and-"

Rayan balled his fist and forced a water pipe above them to come crushing down on the ground between them. As the water spilled, Rayan moved around the pipe he'd been messing with - using his power to deflect any water drops from hitting him - and walked straight up to Angie. "I haven't seen my sister in _weeks_ and as far as I know, she's not living with Belén either."

"Maybe she ran away?"

"Yes, but from _what_?"

"I don't know," Angie shrugged. "But maybe if you'd been paying attention you would have noticed how strange Maritza had been acting lately. She was keeping something from us."

"But what?"

The two had a mini-stare down until a gust of wind broke them apart. Angie fell off the crate and hit the ground with a thud while Rayan was pushed back against a pipe.

"Your sister was keeping a big secret from you, Mr. Palayta," the Reverse Flash stood between the two metas.

Rayan shook his head as he sat upright and immediately glared at the intruder. Maritza had told him about the second speedster who'd murdered their father - this one had to be it. He focused his eyes on the speedster and used all of his power to control the intruder. However, after a minute, the speedster mockingly laughed.

"Don't bother with that blood control - my molecules move too fast for you to even attempt to control."

"Then I'll just kill you the old fashion way," Rayan began to get up on his feet when Reverse Flash sped towards Rayan and pinned him against a wall.

"Or we could be smart and you can listen to what I have to say and offer."

"I say we listen..." Angie sat upright and rubbed her back. "Mostly cos I don't feel like fighting in my new clothes."

"I'd never talk to the man who killed my father!" Rayan gripped Reverse Flash's hand curled around his neck.

"What if I were to tell you that I know why Maritza ran?" Reverse Flash smirked when Rayan froze. "Or how about I mention my knowledge of the Flash's identity?"

 _That_ piqued Rayan's interest. Though he had a cloudy mind, everything snapped back to the present at the mention of the Flash, or even Belén for that matter. "What do you want?"

Reverse Flash let Rayan go and surprised the two metas by pulling off his hood.

"Dr. Wells?" Angie got up on her feet and threw Rayan a look. "We were right - that guy was always hiding something."

"First of all, my name is Eobard Thawne and second of all, as I told Belén, it really was not my intention to kill your father, your entire family was collateral damage," Thawne explained calmly. "And do you know who's at fault?"

"You," Rayan accused.

"No, the Flash. I wanted him, I still do, and because of him I had to go through so many people - including your sister - to get him. And if things continue they way they are, I'll have no choice but to kill her too."

"Fine," Rayan said all too easily, even for him. "Belén chose him anyways. Our entire family is broken."

"Well, I'm sorry to say that it does not get better. See, in my time - because I'm from the future by the way-" Thawne paused only to take in the two's comical faces, "-she's, how do you say, the _Mrs. Flash_?"

"NO!" Rayan's face went completely red within the minute. He thrust his hands forwards, picking up multiple crates and crashing them against the walls. "You're lying!"

"Are you willing to wager on that based on everything you know so far? Everything you've _seen_ so far?"

Rayan breathed heavily, his chest rising as anger bubbled underneath. "What the hell do you want?"

"I want to get home and you want revenge on STAR Labs - I'm sure there's something we can come up with together. After all, your mind is still sane enough for a decent plan."

~0~

Searching for Eddie and Thawne was a much more complicated job than anyone could have thought. Days turned into a week and still no one could find them. Feeling so overwhelmed, the group had finally brought in Nina to officially help them as well. Nina searched from above, Belén through the small spaces, and Barry anywhere else in the city.

Feeling even more cautious, the group decided to never be alone. Where one went, another person was to accompany. There was a special emphasis on Iris, being the one of them who suffered more considering her boyfriend remained missing and she had no idea why. Belén tried spending as much time as she could with Iris, but the woman seemed to be a little distant. Belén didn't press for any talking that Iris didn't want to do - she was just there to be with Iris.

But on the nights that Iris preferred to stay alone - although for the time being back at her dad's - Belén was to spend her nights alone at home...or so she thought. Barry had taken Iris' words very seriously, figuring that although Belén was focusing on helping to catch Wells - or Thawne at this point - she too was hurting as her siblings were basically hunting her down for a death match. She was still processing how her own life had been altered because one man chose to do it.

Barry made it his job, or his responsibility, to make sure Belén knew she wasn't alone no matter what.

Belén stopped being surprised each night she found her boyfriend on the other side of her front door with an idea of how to spend their night. Even though he didn't spend the night, it made her feel _good_ , safe, and best of all she wasn't lonely.

One night it was dinner.

...that they bickered about because they couldn't decide whose lasagna was better.

"I'm Italian, Barry! My lasagna will top yours any day!" Belén shouted at him.

"Hey, adding something new to the recipe doesn't mean it'll taste bad!" Barry argued right back with the same determination she had. It was clear that neither would back down, which meant they needed to find a solution fast.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel skipped into the kitchen from the backyard. "What are we eating? I'm hungry!"

The two metas glanced at each other with the same idea popping into their heads. That night Axel had two different plates of lasagna he could taste and when he happened to choose the plate Belén made, Belén cheered and gave a smug smirk at Barry.

"Told you," she even added.

"This is not a pretty side of you, Bells," Barry said with a small 'tsk' afterwards.

The next night Barry came over, it was series marathon night and both decided they owed Cisco by catching up on the Walking Dead. When Axel was put to sleep, Belén and Barry settled on the couch and watched the series for as long as they could before sleepiness would take over.

"It's still unbelievable their effects are this crappy," Barry would say every five minutes or so.

Belén, sitting beside him, rolled her eyes. "Barry…"

"I know, I got it, shut up now," Barry nodded and forced himself to keep his mouth shut for as long as possible. Two minutes later, however… "The aim was completely disproportionate-"

" _Barry_ ," Belén looked at him expectantly. They were just trying to watch a television series and here he was rambling on about the reality of things. It was so... _Barry_.

"I know, sorry," Barry apologized and lowered his head a little. But, when he looked back at the television, he just couldn't control himself. "Oh c'mon-" he flapped a hand towards the television, "-that could never happen!"

"Oh my god!" Belén exclaimed and hit him with one of the cushions, giving up on ever being able to watch television without him yapping through it.

"I'm just saying-"

"SHUSH!" she nearly jumped over him as she pushed the cushion over his face. Maybe this way she could get an episode in silence!

The next night, feeling guilty he had ruined their marathon day, he offered a movie night...where he promised he wouldn't speak unless it was for a good reason that did not involve science and logic.

Belén said he was on probation.

"Well, Axel is fast asleep," Belén returned from upstairs after making sure Axel remained asleep. "You are, and I quote, his favorite 'new uncle'." She moved around the couch and promptly took a seat on Barry's lap. Barry couldn't help but think back to the future article written by Belén's future self. He coughed awkwardly, making Belén laugh. "Calm down, Barry, he's _four_. Axel will call anyone his favorite aunt or uncle if they give him ice cream for breakfast."

"Sorry," Barry still smiled awkwardly. He hadn't the nerve to tell her about the article because he didn't want to freak her out. Most people didn't like seeing their future planned out like that.

Belén chuckled and looped her arms around his neck. "You're too cute sometimes." She pecked his lips once then put a finger over his lips. "Even if you do talk throughout my series."

"Sorry," he apologized once more, prompting her to laugh again.

The next night, it was an active search for Thawne and Eddie. Due to that, Belén left Axel with Iris at the latter's home. Belén came back first when she figured it was time to head back for her own house, but somehow Iris convinced Belén to stay over for the night.

"Do you know where Barry went off to?" Iris walked into her bedroom just as Belén had placed one of her bags over her armoire.

Belén didn't look up as she was fixing Axel on the mattress beside Iris' bed. "Em, I think he and Cisco had a guy's night planned out," she was so good at lying now it made her feel sick. Of course she knew where Barry was. He was still out searching for Eddie.

"Hm," Iris crossed her arms, and Belén missed her suspicious look directed at her. "Are you sure that's where he is?"

This time, Belén looked up and saw through the mirror's reflection Iris seemed a little bit off again. "Uh, yeah, where else would he be? With another girl? You would tell me though, right?" she smiled and went back to digging through her bag.

"Of course," Iris said, biting her lip unsurely. "Just like...you would tell me...if there was anything...I needed to know, right?"

"Course," Belén said, this time without looking up.

Iris felt bad for not completely believing Belén's word. There was no doubt in Iris' mind that Barry truly was the Flash and that he had purposely not told her about it. She wanted to know who was in league with him, besides STAR Labs. Because there was also no doubt in her mind that Dr. Wells, Caitlin, and Cisco also knew about it and were even helping him to be the Flash. She was just unsure if Belén was in the dark like she was. After all, Belén had seemed clueless that the Flash _liked_ her. Of course he would, the Flash and Barry were the same person but...maybe Belén didn't know that?

Belén realized how uncomfortable Iris seemed after finally finding what she was looking for. "Are you okay?" She turned around.

"Yeah," Iris gave her an odd look in return. "I think...I'm just going to sleep early today."

"O-okay," Belén nodded. "Axel is out for the night and I'll be as quiet as a mouse," she placed a finger over her lips. Iris gave her a thankful smile and started getting her pajamas. In the meantime, Belén hurried to grab the last of her things to go downstairs. She had no intention of sleeping until Barry returned.

So, she waited, even when she felt the sleepiness taking over.

And she didn't know what time it was but she spent it all in the living room watching television until she felt the familiar wind as Barry zipped in straight for his bedroom. She rolled her eyes as she sat up, turning off the television. She got up and walked up the staircase to see what he had come up with. Acknowledging the late hour, she knocked lightly on his bedroom door asking if she could come in.

Course she could come in, he told her. And stepping in, she found him already changed for sleep as well...and with a very tired face.

"No luck?" she asked, closing the door behind her.

"I swear I am looking through every possible place," Barry began to pace, feeling even more stressed knowing Eddie was being forced to spend another night God knew where with Thawne.

"Hey," Belén moved over, stopping him in the middle of his pacing, "I know that. We all know that, I promise. But Thawne is just from the future so of course he's going to know things we don't. Doesn't mean we won't catch him, just...maybe it'll take a bit more of our time."

Barry sighed again, the stress combining with general tiredness.

"You're tired, get some rest and then tomorrow we'll both go out and search for Eddie again," she suggested, more like subtly ordered, but nonetheless kindly. She gave him a goodnight kiss and turned to leave.

But Barry wrapped his arms around her from behind, this time refusing to let her go. "Can you stay here instead?"

The question made her momentarily blush. "Um...I mean, if you'd like…"

"I really would," he admitted, keeping his arms tightly around him in case she actually left. "If Axel wakes up, I'll speed you to Iris' room myself."

She chuckled. "Lucky for you, Axel rarely wakes up in the night. I guess we can talk for a while," she tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "Fair warning, I might take all the blankets in the meantime."

"Fine, but I'm taking all of _you_ then," he kissed her forehead and brought her back to bed.

"Wow, your jokes are even worse in the night," she said before climbing into bed with him.

"Right now, they're not good at any moment. I'm surprised this one was good," Barry sighed. He reached for her body to pull her closer to his. "Thanks for staying a while more."

Belén yawned before replying, "I needed this too. My siblings are M.I.A. and I'm a little scared of when they'll be coming back for me."

Barry tightened his hold on her just thinking about Maritza and Rayan. "I don't think Maritza would hurt you," he admitted. "When I told her everything, she seemed more broken and confused than...evil."

"Hmm..."

"Maybe, with luck, this time away from her son and you might give her a reality check," Barry continued but stopped when Belén gave no response. He shifted a little to look at her face and realized she'd fallen asleep too. She must have been really tired, then. Barry thought about bringing her back to Iris' room where Axel was but...he didn't want to.

Maybe it made him selfish to keep her with him but...he was comfortable where he was right now. He felt _good._ Lately, everything in his life had been confusing and terrifying but Belén made the feelings wash away when they were together.

Those were the last thoughts he had before he too fell asleep.

~ 0 ~

When Barry woke up the next morning he felt no less stressed. Although, when he felt his girlfriend's patterned-breathing hitting just below his jawline, it did make things better again. He leaned his head just the slightest to kiss her hair, but unfortunately she breathed in deeply, signaling she was waking up.

"Sorry," Barry apologized quietly, still pretty groggy himself.

"Good morning. I guess I fell asleep here, huh?" Belén greeted, languidly blinking and shifting herself a little to look at him. She had her head resting on his chest and refused to move at least for another while more. "I hope Axel hasn't woken up yet. Did I steal your blanket like I promised?"

"Mm, a but, but I kept you with me like I promised."

"I stand corrected - your jokes are worse in the mornings. Well I'm sorry, but your bed is actually really comfortable, and I learned that one the first time I stayed here." Belén smiled to herself as she then admitted, "It smelled like you."

Although still a bit sleepy, Barry cracked a smirk. "Well, being honest, when I moved back in it still kind of smelled like _you_ in here."

"Shut up, you moved in like a month later," Belén chuckled lightly.

"No, I'm not kidding, it really did. Blankets, pillows, hell, there was even one particular shirt I swear smelled like you. I thought I was losing it."

Belén made a face he couldn't see. "That shirt...was it green and black? Plaid?"

"Yeah," Barry sniffed, beginning to will himself to finally wake up.

Belén shifted once more so that she could tilt her head up at him on his side. "I may have accidentally worn that at one point. Sorry."

"You wore my shirt?"

"Uh, yes, yes I did."

Barry looked down at her for a moment, thinking about this and how much sense it made later. Then, with a smirk on his face, he looked up to the ceiling. "That's kinda hot…"

Belén's face flushed bright red. "Barry…"

"No, I mean it," Barry rubbed one of his eyes, "Feel free to wear any of my clothes whenever you want."

Belén continued to blush but giggled. "I will make a mental note of that."

~ 0 ~

Cisco was hard at work on the many cameras Wells used to spy on them. He was busy taking one apart when Barry walked in.

"Hey. You planning on keeping all those cameras Wells used to spy on us? That's kind of creepy, don't you think?"

Cisco looked up completely disagreeing. "First rule of mechanical engineering, dude. Never waste good tech." Barry rolled his eyes but the computer beeping at them took over the conversation. Cisco moved over to see the problem. "Central City Gold Reserve's under attack."

"Gold?" Barry repeated. "That's the case Singh wants us on. I'll be right back."

Quickly in his suit, he sped over to the location of the ongoing crime. He was able to see the remnants of a violent car explosion when he spotted an armed figure covered in protective gear along with a helmet.

"You picked a bad day for this, pal," Barry intended on going forwards when he felt some sort of pressure in his brain. The pressure turned into a fierce pain that froze him to his spot. He saw brief images of irrelevant things such a medical lab, but in the process he fell to the ground unable to see more.

And then, just like that, the pain vanished. The armed figure ran away.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin flashed a light in Barry's eyes after hearing of the attack. "Your eye movement is normal. No signs of neurological damage."

"Do you think the thief might have been a meta-human who put the whammie on you or something?" asked Cisco who believed it could be a plausible reason for Barry's condition.

"I... I don't know. When Rainbow Raider got in my head, all I felt was anger. But this was not that. This was just overwhelming _fear_ ," Barry tried to explain as best as possible, but really the feeling was all new for him as well.

Cisco sat down at the small desk in the side room with them and brought up the security feed of the site of the rob. There they saw both Barry and the armed figure going down as if they had been both attacked.

"Hmm. Looks like when you went down, the thief got disoriented too," Cisco pointed out, moving to the side so that Caitlin and Barry could see as well.

"Maybe we both got whammied," Barry weakly theorized.

Iris walked in at that moment, shocking everyone, but not that she cared. She was...upset, and very. "Then you know how it feels. Hi, Barry. Or should I say The Flash?"

In less than five minutes, Iris and Barry had relocated to the training room to speak more privately, or so they believed as they didn't know they were being heard by Caitlin and Cisco out in the cortex.

"How did you find out?" Barry failed to wrap his mind around this.

"When I touched The Flash the other night, I felt a jolt of electricity. The only other time I have ever felt anything like that was when you were in a coma after the accident." Iris shared a bitter chuckle. "I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner."

"I can only imagine how angry you are-"

"I'm not angry, Barry. I'm just disappointed." Iris shook her head. "Does Eddie know?"

Barry hated to put Eddie on the spot like that when the man wasn't even here to give his own defence statement, but Iris was so upset he thought it was just better to get through with the truth. "Yes, he does."

Iris' eyes filled with tears. "Is that why he got kidnapped?"

"No, I don't know why Wells took Eddie. I…"

Iris once again gaped. "Dr. Wells is the Man in Yellow?"

Barry sighed and began to explain. "Everything he's been doing, helping me... it was all a lie. Wells killed my mom."

"Is he gonna kill Eddie?"

"No, he's not. I'm gonna get Eddie back, I swear."

Iris crossed her arms. "Yeah, the Flash said the same thing yet here we are."

"Look, Iris, you have to believe me, I... There were so many times I wanted to tell you. You were the first person I wanted to tell, but everything started getting crazy, and I thought maybe Joe was right and I shouldn't say…"

Iris made a gesture for him to stop talking. "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that my dad knew and he told you not to tell me?"

"He was trying to protect you. We both were-"

"Yeah, well, maybe it's time you both stopped," Iris lowered her hand and took a moment before speaking again. "Did everyone know before me?" she asked quietly, tilting her head. "I mean, what about Belén? Does she know that you're…"

But Barry couldn't hide it anymore on his face.

Iris sighed in utter deception. "Of course she did," she once again bitterly smiled. "Of course she did. How couldn't she, hm?" She shook her head and promptly stormed out of the room.

~ 0 ~

Feeling incredibly guilty he was the source of the newfound problem, Barry had a quick, brief conversation with Belén over the phone to warn her that Iris could very well be on her way to speak with Belén next...probably to show her disappointment. Well, Belén decided she didn't want to wait until Iris showed up. She would be brave and face her close friend first. And that was why she had come into CC Picture News that following night, knowing Iris would probably be delving into work to forget or to distract herself.

"Hey," she politely greeted Iris, the latter only looking up briefly before returning to whatever was on her computer screen. Belén sighed and walked over to the desk opposite of Iris'. "I know you know…"

Iris didn't give her another look. "And what do you happen to know, Bells? That I know Barry lied, that my own Dad lied, or that _you_ lied?"

"It wasn't my place to tell you-"

Setting down her pen rather loudly on her desk, Iris' eyes flickered to Belén. "It was your place because you knew that my best friend - my _brother_ \- was out there on the streets being the freaking Flash. When you are this close to me-" she gestured between herself and Belén, "-it _is_ your right to tell me."

"It wasn't," Belén insisted, unable to get a bit teary. "When Barry told me he was the Flash I was just as mad - hell, I was _more_ mad. And I figured it out like you did, so it wasn't even him deciding to tell me. I wanted to punch him in the face for about two weeks after I learned."

"When you went to Starling, huh?" Iris had put two and two afterwards, thinking it was way more sensible than Belén just spontaneously visiting her mother in Starling.

"I left because of that but also for other reasons. But look, in the beginning I was so mad that I didn't want to hear what Barry had to say. I just thought that he was a liar and that he was just laughing at me behind my back. But then I realized it wasn't as easy to do. I was kidnapped - twice - because people thought I had a connection to the Flash. I mean, Barry has to carry that with him - he has to carry with the fact things can happen to people around him because of who he is."

"It doesn't matter," Iris laid it out the way she saw it. "Because I could have helped instead of continuously getting in his way, getting in everyone's way. We grew up together, we shared everything."

"I know, I get that it's difficult, but please just look at it from his perspective," Belén tried reasoning with her.

"You want me to look from another perspective?" Iris challenged, crossing her arms as she feigned to think for a moment. "Hm, well, let's start with you then. _You_ must have had your share of laughs with Barry behind _my_ back when I stupidly theorized the Flash had a thing for you."

"That was-"

"That was a proper concern for me, you know that? That you could get seduced or swooned by this man who could run at lightspeed and...and forget that someone as sweet and caring as Barry was right there with you," Iris' anger simmered as she revealed this thought.

"I would never have done that even if they were two separate people," Belén whispered.

"But I thought it could happen, because I didn't know," Iris' voice shook. "But I mean, Barry liked you-" she gestured with one hand, "-and so the Flash liked you," she gestured with her other arm like a weighing scale. "How much did you laugh?"

"No one laughed, Iris, I swear," Belén sighed. "Look, you deserved to know, I'm not going to argue, but this is what happened and I'm sorry. And…" she sighed again, pausing as she considered if her next move was even worth it, "...since you know about Barry then...I guess you should know who I am."

"What?" Iris lowered her arms, growing confused again.

" _I'm_ the Azalea, Iris. It's the other reason why I left for Starling," Belén shrugged while Iris' eyes widened. "I was affected too, and I didn't tell anyone - including STAR Labs - about it for a very long time."

"H-how...what…?" Iris looked to the side, now dumbfounded. "So you and Barry were just...out there...saving people…"

"Well, not exactly always but...sort of...yeah…"

"Unbelievable," Iris sat down on her chair to think things through.

"I'm sorry," Belén said, but Iris said no more. Feeling like she was done, Belén grabbed her purse and walked out of the building.

~ 0 ~

"And so I told her," Belén recounted her meeting with Iris to Barry that same night, but much later. The two were at Belén's house, both finding it easier not to face Iris for that night at her place. "Like...everything. And now she's kinda mad at me too."

"It's my fault," Barry rubbed his forehead with a deep sigh escaping through his lips.

Belén scooted closer to him on the couch, draping one arm around his shoulders. "It's not-"

"It _is_. I should have never listened to Joe-"

"If you hadn't and something happened then you would've blamed yourself too. This is a game that's hard to win at, Barry."

Barry lowered his hand from his face and looked at her, the tiniest of smiles on his lips. "I should count myself lucky, I guess, that she didn't react like you."

"I told Iris the same thing," Belén said in amusement. "I really did want to punch you, you know."

"Well deserved, I guess," Barry gave a sway of his head. "And if Iris wants to do it too then I'll just let her."

"So does that mean I still get to punch you?"

"Uh, _no_ , it expired when you left for Starling for a month."

"It has no expiration date!"

"Oh yes it does! And besides, you owe me too, you know."

Belén feigned offence. "And what for?"

"For going to _Oliver_ for help," Barry made a face that really did have offence written all over it.

Belén dropped her charade and smirked. "Barry Allen are you jealous I chose the Arrow over the Flash?"

"I'm just saying that I could have helped more than Oliver. And it would have involved a lot less arrows on your back." Belén burst out laughing much to Barry's disappointment. "I'm being serious!"

Belén just laughed some more.

~0~

The next day, the group of metahumans had come across their mysterious culprit in armed clothing as he tried to steal golden bricks, only to be caught this time by the Flash and Joe. Upon tearing off the helmet of the culprit, however, they came to the shock of finding General Eiling underneath. Although quickly they realized that Eiling wasn't quite there with them as the man had gone through an entire transition to the pipeline without so much as a word.

"I don't get it, what's wrong with him?" Belén looked away from Eiling who was now imprisoned in one of the pipeline pods.

Caitlin was making a face that said she was just as lost as they were. "I pulled a bullet out of his shoulder and he didn't even flinch."

"And that should have hurt him like hell," Joe mumbled, as he had been there with Caitlin to provide any security should Eiling have acted in the process.

"It didn't even seem like he felt it," Caitlin continued with her story. "I did a complete body scan, and otherwise, General Eiling is perfectly healthy."

"So why is he just standing there like a robot?" Barry asked the million-dollar question.

Cisco walked into the pipeline after finishing his talk on the phone. "I just got off the phone with ARGUS. Officially, Eiling is on administrative leave."

"Unofficially, then?" Belén gave a tint of a smile.

"I spoke with Diggle's wife, Lyla, and she said Eiling's been missing for the past three months and ARGUS is covering up for it."

"There you go," Belén glanced back at the imprisoned man.

"Last time I saw the general was when Ronnie and us broke Professor Stein out of that military facility. I'm sure they're covering that up too," Barry remarked.

"So where has he been since then?" Joe inquired and moved up closer to Eiling's pod. "General Eiling, why were you trying to rob the gold reserve?"

"Maybe he's in some kind of a trance?" Caitlin theorized, but she would of course need more studies.

"General, do you remember me?" Barry tried his hand at it and received an instant reaction from Eiling.

"Flash," went the man in a gruff voice.

"How does he know you're the Flash?" Belén panicked and looked at Barry.

"I've no idea," Barry honestly replied, eyes now glued to Eiling.

"General...Eiling not here. Eiling bad."

"Maybe it's some kind of psychotic break presenting itself as dissociative identity disorder," Caitlin said shortly afterwards.

Eiling's eyes flickered to the brunette. "Caitlin. Caitlin good."

"Oh, uh, thank you?" went Caitlin who became confused. She hadn't even met Eiling face to face before.

"Mm. Forget multiple personalities," Cisco said, just totally freaked out. "You guys have seen the Exorcist, right?"

Belén couldn't help smile as she glanced back at him. "You and your movies."

"Keep talking to him, Barry," Joe encouraged the metahuman. "He seems to respond to you."

"And Caitlin," Belén added curiously, wondering what kind of connection that could have.

Barry looked at Eiling again, a bit nervous and out of good question. "Uh, why is Eiling bad?"

"Eiling hurt me. I hurt Eiling."

"Okay, uh, so if you're not Eiling, then who are you?"

"I... Am...Grodd. Fear...me."

Joe looked back at Caitlin and Cisco, the two sharing a look between each other, and asked, "What is a...Grodd?"

~ 0 ~

"Oh, Grodd is a... _gorilla_ ," Barry sounded unimpressed as he, Belén and Joe watched a short video Caitlin had put up for them in the cortex that showed Grodd the Gorilla being fed through a cage by Caitlin herself.

"You guys had a _gorilla_?" Belén was just dumbfounded STAR Labs went this far to study. "No, wait, and you named him _Grodd_?"

"Five years ago, Eiling and Wells were working on a project to expand soldiers' cognitive abilities during battle," Caitlin began to explain. "What we didn't realize is that Eiling was trying to create soldiers with psychic abilities."

Joe frowned. "What do you mean "psychic"?

"Eiling was trying to create these super-soldiers with telepathic and telekinetic capabilities," Cisco clarified for them.

"But when Dr. Wells found out about the terrible experiments that Eiling was doing, he shut down the entire project," Caitlin finished.

"So our psycho-killer has a soft spot for animals," Joe made another face and looked back at the video. "That's sweet."

"What happened to Grodd?" Barry asked, figuring neither really knew.

"We don't know," Caitlin admitted. "After the Particle Accelerator exploded, I went down to check on him, and his cage was empty."

"Wait, are you telling me that Grodd could've been affected by the Particle Accelerator too?" Belén turned to the two scientists. "Can that happen?"

Cisco contemplated on the concept with a sigh. "When the dark matter hit Grodd, all the drugs and serums that Eiling injected him with could've activated. Maybe the Accelerator explosion created a meta-gorilla-" and then he became excited, "-And I think we know what happens when a super-intelligent ape who's pissed off at humans escapes captivity."

"Oh my God," Belén was once again amused by his movie sharing.

Caitlin moved over to the desk and started searching for Grodd's old file. "Cisco's right about the first part. This is the first brain scan that I did on Grodd."

She brought up one brain scan of Grodd's to the computer wall for the others to see. A good section of the brain were lit up with colorful shades.

"Whoa. His primary motor cortex and Broca's area are lit up like a Christmas tree," Barry remarked with widened eyes.

"From Eiling's experiments. And this is the brain scan that I just did on Eiling," Caitlin pulled up a second scan on the side of the first, revealing two near exact brain color shades. "His brain is lit up in the exact same way."

"So Grodd and Eiling are connected somehow?" Joe deduced after a moment.

"I think that somehow, Grodd is transmitting neural signals to Eiling's primary motor cortex. Mind control, telepathy…" Caitlin theorized, "Who knows what Grodd is capable of now?"

"What do we think Grodd wants? Revenge?"

"I do not like the fact that Wells rescued Grodd," Joe looked away from the screens. "I don't think it's a coincidence that this gorilla shows up at the very same time we're looking for Wells."

Caitlin could see that perhaps Joe could be right. "Grodd and Wells always did have a special bond."

"It wouldn't surprise me if Wells was using Grodd to distract us. If we find Grodd, we find Wells. If we find Wells…"

"We find Eddie," Iris walked in determinedly, expecting a good share of arguments just to stay there. "And I'm gonna help."

Caitlin looked at the rest nervously, and decided she would step in for Iris' case. "Know anything about gorillas?"

A grateful smile spread across Iris' face at Caitlin. "I just might."

~ 0 ~

Iris was given a seat at the desk to show the information she had gathered over her blog period and time at CC Picture News.

"There have been reports of some sort of animal down in the sewers," she explained as she brought in an article having to do with the topic.

"Mm. Alligators. C.H.U.D.S. R.O.U.S'es?" Cisco thought out loud but everyone gave him blank looks. With a frown, he sighed. "Am I the only one who watches movies around here?"

Iris continued searching. "Uh, a few months ago, two sewer workers went missing. The search party reported hearing strange animal like noises down in the tunnels."

"Where exactly did they go missing?" Caitlin asked her.

"Uh, Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street."

Cisco then took a seat on Iris' other side to turn on the third computer. "There's an access point to the sewers about two blocks east of that intersection."

"I'll start there," Barry said without a moment's thought.

"Not alone," Joe warned him. "I'm coming too."

"Huh, wading through miles of rats, roaches, and human excrement... count me out," Cisco said but then got a sharp look from Joe. "Count me in?" he amended disappointingly.

"He's your monkey," Joe had a brief laugh as he walked out of the cortex.

~ 0 ~

"Can we see them, still?" Belén asked Caitlin for about the third time after the men's cameras went online. Caitlin smiled and nodded her head, reassuring Belén that everything was going good so far. She knew Belén was annoyed that she had to stay back so Caitlin would answer her as many times as Belén asked.

"Well we can definitely hear Cisco yelp every time he sees a rat," Caitlin said thoughtfully before chuckling.

"Shush," they promptly heard Cisco over the comm.

Caitlin and Belén shared a mini-laugh afterwards.

"Belén? they heard Iris return. The woman had gone for a coffee down the hallway after their friends and her father decided to go on their own.

"Yeah, Iris?" Belén slowly looked at her, wondering where they stood in regards to their friendship.

"Why didn't Barry want to let you go?" Iris came up to the side of the desk they were sitting at, placing her cup over the taller side of said desk.

"Because your brother is overprotective, that's why," Belén sighed, but she knew Iris deserved a better explanation than that. "But that's not it. I...wanted to show you something." Iris gave her a questionable look but saw that Belén and Caitlin seemed to be on the same page. "Follow me," Belén started leading Iris out of the cortex.

Iris didn't ask any questions on their way into the pipeline, not even when Belén opened up the pipeline. But once she saw the familiar face of Noah inside a pod, her eyes widened in shock. "Is that...?"

"Oh, so now she knows too?" Noah jerked a thumb at Iris while looking at Belén.

"Why is he in there?" Iris was almost covering her mouth in shock. At first glance, Noah didn't look dangerous.

"Because he's Azul," Belén crossed her arms. "He's the one who tried killing us when the Trickster and James Jesse attacked, remember?"

Upon remembering, Iris fixated a glare on Noah. "You were Azul? This whole time you were playing us!"

"He was a spy..." Belén said slowly, "...for my brother and sister."

Iris opened her mouth with the intention of saying something when Belén's words registered in her head. "I'm sorry - _brother_ _?_ What?"

"My brother's alive, Iris, and he's a metahuman," Belén sighed as she got ready to say the next part, the most important part of the story. "And he's decided to use his powers for evil. Literally. Maritza's known about it all along and the reason she's gone is because Barry gave her an ultimatum: tell me the truth or leave. She chose to leave."

Iris looked between Belén and Noah with her mouth falling in a gape. "Oh my God..."

"You see why we didn't want to tell you everything? It's drama, and it's painful, and you didn't have to share the burden."

"If I had known I would have helped you," Iris said without the anger that had been lacing her words with everyone else. "At the very least I could have helped by just being there for you. Because learning all of this couldn't have been easy." Belén's gaze lowered, proving Iris' point. "I was there when you lost your brother, I could have been there when you learned he wasn't dead, but just...gone."

"I know," Belén slowly moved to close the pipeline. "It would have been nice..."

Iris could feel that Belén was doing her best not to show any tears. "Oh, Belén," Iris moved forwards to hug her friend. She expected to be there whenever any of their friends needed her from now on.

~0 ~

After a failed attempt of facing Grodd - that resulted in Joe's kidnapping - Cisco brought Barry back to immediately get checked over by Caitlin. Grodd had attacked Barry again, which resulted in the metahuman being knocked out cold.

Caitlin had pulled up his results of the brain scan and came to a familiar conclusion. "You're experiencing a spike of activity in your primary motor cortex. It's the same thing we saw in Eiling. The images you saw were some kind of psychic attack by Grodd."

Iris was in near tears at the side of the room. "First Eddie gets taken by The Man in Yellow, and now my dad…"

"And we're going to find them," Belén promised her, holding her hand. "We're getting them back, don't you worry."

"Hold up. I put a tracker in the tranq dart you shot Grodd with," Cisco recalled and started heading for the controller of said tracker. "As soon as it activates…"

Barry pulled off the device around his head meant to scan him and got up from his chair. "No, Cisco. I can't wait for that. I will search every inch of that sewer if I have to."

But Belén turned him around, slightly irritated he was entering his impulsive side again. "And then what, genius? Grodd is a gorilla that can telepathically attack you."

Barry knew she was right and sighed. He looked back at Caitlin and Cisco, pleading. "I don't... I mean... Can you guys build me something? Some kind of tech so he can't get into my head?"

Cisco looked unsure, matching Caitlin's expression. "I don't know. Maybe if Dr. Wells were here."

Iris looked between the two in disbelief. "I don't understand," she spoke up, making everyone glance at her to see her becoming upset. "Every day you guys figure out a way to help people. All of The Flash's powers and all of this equipment, and you can't save Eddie and my dad?"

"It's not that, we're just...a bit disoriented," Caitlin tried not to argue knowing that Iris was going through hardships. "We're lost, okay? But make no doubt Cisco and I are going to try. Aren't we?"

Seeing her looking at him expectantly, Cisco nodded his head. "Yes! On it! Now!"

And partly to avoid more accusations, the two scientists walked out the side room to get working.

Iris was left to look at Barry and Belén, and still mighty upset. "I can't get that sound out of my head. My dad screaming. Why did he insist on going down there with you? He's always preaching about being safe, but not once does he think about running into danger himself."

"That's just-"

"No," Iris said before either one could say more. "He's just a regular cop. He is not some meta-human with superpowers. He's not you two."

"We understand how you feel, and believe us, we're going to find him" Barry promised her.

~ 0 ~

It had taken them a little over two hours, but Caitlin and Cisco came through with a device meant to help Barry avoid being telepathically attacked by Grodd.

Caitlin presented to them a head device in her hands. "An anti-telepathy strip. It uses magnetic resonance to neutralize any foreign neurological stimulus."

"So it'll protect Barry from being mind-controlled?" Belén inquired.

Caitlin nodded but slowly came to a stop as she sighed and admitted to them, "That's the hope, but we have no way of knowing if it actually works."

Barry had faith in his friends' work and rook the device from Caitlin. "It'll work."

One of the computers started beeping and prompted Cisco to rush forwards. "The tracker just came online. We have Grodd's location."

Barry wasted no time and changed in a second. Belén sighed with full concern as he came towards them.

"You know we still have to work on your powers," he said as she continued to give him those worried eyes of hers.

"Doesn't mean I can't wish I was there with you," she countered glumly.

"We an't risk you losing control against a gorilla. A regular metahuman, fine. At least this way if we get our assess kicked it'll just be mine."

"My hero," Belén chuckled. She leaned forwards and gave him a short kiss on the lips.

"Always," Barry hugged her tight.

"Please get my dad back," Iris said after the two metas had pulled away.

"Promise," Barry nodded and sped off.

"Barry, what's your ETA?" Cisco had taken a seat by the desk in order to begin their plan.

"I'm in position," Barry called back.

"Wait for my signal."

Iris and Belén looked over to one of the computers on the wall. Iris saw two dots meaning to represent Barry and Grodd but was yet to understand what they were supposed to do next.

"Cisco?" Caitlin called after a minute.

"Okay. Here goes nothing," Cisco dramatically pressed on the keyboard."The steam's working. Grodd's on the move."

"I don't understand. What is the plan?" Iris asked from them, a bit impatient.

"He's maneuvering Grodd into a tunnel 5.3 miles from Barry…" Caitlin began and stopped as Belén gasped.

Iris saw her friend's off reaction and frowned. "So Barry can do what?"

"Oh, hell no," Belén glanced back at Cisco rather annoyed. "Is that why you didn't want to tell me?"

"Well, if we had then you wouldn't have let me say this-" Cisco took an excited breath in and exclaimed, "-Supersonic BOOM!"

"CISCO!" Belén half shouted but the man laughed anyways.

At the same time Barry took off from his position and made it towards the sewer. Soon as his balled fist made contact with Grodd, the gorilla grasped it effortlessly and threw Barry to the side.

Barry tumbled a bit until he landed flat on his back. "The supersonic punch failed." He pushed himself up and faced Grodd, seeing the gorilla narrowing its large eyes as it prepared for another mental attack. "Uh-oh. Here we go." He remained strong against Grodd, feeling nothing in his head. "It's okay, Cisco. The headset's working."

"Yes. Okay, uh, try some speed punches on him," Cisco suggested.

Barry nodded and endeavored in a series of super punches. "This isn't working!"

Cisco faltered as he came up with another idea. "Okay, what if you try…"

But Grodd acted first and seized Barry by the neck. Immediately the others saw his vitals acting out. Grodd threw Barry _through_ one of the brick walls. From such a force Barry had to stay down over what felt like train railroad tracks. The built device malfunctioned after the strong blow and left Barry vulnerable against the telepathic attacks. Even as he tried getting upwards Grodd would mentally push him down with another attack.

Caitlin couldn't look at the screen anymore that showed Barry's vitals. "Barry's brain activity is off the charts. It's way worse than last time."

"That's because of the device failing, no?" Belén panicked as she got a glimpse of the screen.

"Grodd's attacking him psychically. He's paralyzed!"

"But it's at a railroad track!" Iris exclaimed.

Cisco hated making things worse but he warmed them. "Come on. There's a service train coming!"

Iris frantically looked at the three. "Do something please!"

"I can't stop the train!" Cisco said as he fiercely tried getting himself into the system.

"I-I have to get there!" Belén decided and made a move for her old suit when Cisco called her.

"You'd never make it and besides, you risk losing your control!'

Belén whirled around frantically. "I have to do something!" she ran back to the desk and situated herself between Caitlin and Cisco where the comm. was. "Barry, listen to me, okay? You have to concentrate on my voice. Whatever is happening to you, you have to fight it. I know you can do this. You've shown me how strong you are. I know you are so please, _please_ stand up to Grodd. You can do this. Please. Barry, do it for me."

Her words rang true in Barry's head. He forced himself to get up, albeit wobbly, and quickly sped to the near wall as the train zoomed by. When it passed, he saw Grodd coming in through the giant hole of the other wall. Barry stepped forwards, back into the railroad tracks once he heard Cisco's warning. Grodd lunged towards him, nearly getting him if Barry hadn't sped back against the wall and the second train hadn't passed by. Grodd was swept away.

Barry then wasted no time and went through the tunnels to get Joe.

~0~

"Joe is going to be just fine," Caitlij emerged from the side room Joe was being kept in to recuperate. She had left Iris with him to look after him seeing the man was far more interested in getting back in the fight than to rest.

Belén had clung to Barry the moment he'd return from the tunnels. Even now she had her arm wrapped around him, refusing toblet him go in case he wanted to still go and find out what became of Grodd. "Maybe it's a good thing we didn't catch Grodd," she spoke up. "I mean, I doubt you guys have a super pipeline that can hold back a super-intelligent, telepathic gorilla."

"As always, right," Cisco pointed at her from the desk.

"Joe mentioned that Grodd called Wells 'Father.' And Wells must have ordered Grodd to come after us," Barry had thought about it long and hard and realized this was the only plausible reason. "It's why Grodd didn't kill Joe. I think Joe is right. Everything Grodd did, it was just to distract us." He then noticed Cisco's distant face. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Just thinking about this headset. It wasn't strong enough. You could've been killed out there, man."

Barry smiled. "No, dude, your tech worked, and it proved that we don't need Wells. The three of us took on Grodd and rescued Joe. Together, we can do anything."

"Actually, it was the five of us," Belén corrected, smiling. "If it wasn't for Iris, we wouldn't have even known where to begin our search."

Barry agreed with a nod. He lowered his head and kissed her hair. Perhaps he could relax just a little now...

~0~

Later on, Barry had wanted to see how Joe was doing before taking Belén home. In the meantime, Cisco had begun making other searches for their missing gorilla at the desk while Belén, Caitlin and Iris lounged about.

"You really think Grodd would actually still be in the city?" Iris looked at Cisco.

Cisco continued typing with eyes glued to the screen. "If he was working with Wells then I would assume though."

"Yeah, but where would they be?" Caitlin sighed as none of them came any closer to figuring out the answer.

"I don't know," Cisco answered truthfully. "He could be like Planet of the Apes and be plotting to destroy us again or maybe more classical like King Kong climbing up the tallest building in our city-"

Belén clapped a hand over his mouth. "No more movie talks, got it?" Cisco playfully narrowed his eyes on her. Belén slowly lifted her hand from his mouth and leaned back on her chair, laughing as she shook her head. "Sometimes I think this is the real reason we didn't work out as a date - you kept talking over the movie!"

Caitlin and Iris exchanged amused looks while Cisco became offended.

"I was trying to inform you!"

"It was a movie I'd never seen, Cisco, I didn't want to be informed," Belén shook her head.

"I didn't hear you complaining with all that popcorn you were eating!"

"That was me trying to focus on the movie!"

"But you say Barry does the same thing!"

"Yeah but at least he quiets down when I make him!"

Caitlin and Iris had to laugh as the other two got more worked up over their failed date. Unfortunately, Iris spotted Barry slowly coming into the cortex and immediately stopped. She whacked Caitlin and made the brunette see him as well.

"You two went out?" Barry walked around the desk leaving Caitlin and Iris behind him and Cisco and Belén in front.

Cisco exchanged a look with Belén, the latter getting more nervous by the second. He stood up and tried to explain as best as possible so there could be no room for doubts. "It was _way_ before you woke up from your coma and then, as I'm sure you heard, it didn't work out!"

Belén got up as well to help Cisco out. The last thing they needed was to be divided among themselves while Wells was still out there. "We saw we were better as friends and that's how we stayed. Always."

Suddenly there were so many things that made sense to Barry. It explained why Belén and Cisco always seemed to share a closer bond than with anyone else. It explained why often times it seemed like Belén was more concerned for Cisco than a regular friend would be.

"You two…" he rubbed his temples, "...you two went on an actual date…? Like, Like with hand-holding, and-and kissing-"

" _No_!" went both Belén and Cisco.

"Well…" Belén sighed as she realized it wasn't entirely true. "It was...it was just at the end, and...and…"

"It didn't happen!" Cisco insisted. "Because we couldn't do it at the last moment. We leaned in but we couldn't go through with it."

Barry tried to understand that but the more he thought about it, the less he liked it. Picturing was _not_ helpful. He shook his head and looked at the two in question. "I-I..."

"Barry, you can't be mad..." Belén whispered, her heart actually hammering under her chest. Now all she was thinking was that she should have said something earlier, something even in passing...anything would have been better than Barry learning about it this way. "I'm sorry..."

Barry made a hand gesture for everyone to stop talking, despite Belén being the only one talking. Without saying a word, he turned and left the cortex.

Cisco drew out a long breath as everyone remained silent probably for their sakes. He looked over to Belén, seeing her close to tears, and wished he had never, _ever_ gotten the idea to ask her out.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hey, hello! I meant to update earlier but work got in the way! Plus, I got some pretty mean comments that didn't even have constructive criticism and that's never a good motivationer. I mean, if you don't like a story...why continue reading and leaving mean comments? I don't understand that.

But moving on, I threw in some fluff because we were gonna get into more angsty stuff. Plus. Iris knows, Reverse Flash got Rayan to work with him? And how's about that ending? Yikes!

 **For the review:**

 **LadyRedStar:** Yeah, I figured Belén would kind of understand that the position Barry had been put in was accidental and a hard one. With that, she couldn't really be mad at him. Oooh, that reunion will happen trust me!


	28. Rogue Ending

**Author's Note:**

Sooooo this was actually meant to be the next chapter then the last chapter. For some reason I got mixed up updating ones so now you guys get two chapters here and one more for the new story!

* * *

"In precisely two days the Particle Accelerator is set to get back online," Wells stood before Rayan and Angie "And knowing the Flash he will want to protect those inside the pipeline so he'll move them. That's when we strike."

"But I get Azul out?" Angie made sure to know before she was to do anything he asked. "He shouldn't die with the rest of the rodents you caught."

"You can do whatever you want with those metahumans - I could care less. I need to get back into the Accelerator and in the meanwhile you're going to keep good old STAR Labs busy. And do you hear me?" Thawne specifically looked at Rayan for that one. "Only keep them _busy_. You don't kill-"

"-your precious Flash, yes I understand," Rayan said plainly, though it seemed like he wasn't paying much attention. His eyes were locked on a water pipe above them that was dripping water. Every now and then some water drops were stopped midway and forced back into the pipe. "But my sister's free game and I so want to see her again."

Thawne watched him for a minute as the metahuman repeatedly shoved water back into the pipe. Though his health was deteriorating, Rayan was becoming much more skilled with his powers. His telekinesis was developing finely to the point of almost being able to control a human's actions. If he wanted to, Rayan could put up an interesting fight.

"Is your silent stare supposed to mean something?" Rayan asked without looking away from the pipe.

"I'm just wondering..." Thawne purposely trailed off.

Rayan's gaze shifted down to the man. "Wondering what?"

"If you could actually kill your own sister - your _twin_."

Thawne's smirk only irritated Rayan. "I'm sorry, your condescending-murdering self is asking me if I am capable of killing someone? Seriously?"

"You're talking about killing your own blood, Rayan. It's pretty cold. Can you look Belén in the eyes and kill her?"

"Spare me the talk," Rayan turned his back on the speedster. "I don't have siblings anymore, so...what happens will happen."

And he truly meant that.

~ 0 ~

The group except for Iris stood in the cortex listening to Cisco and his apparent discovery of Wells' old wheelchair. "I kept asking myself, why would Wells pretend to need a wheelchair?" Cisco made a round on the wheelchair, taking occasional sips of his soda.

"Sympathy, I suppose," Caitlin shrugged, everyone else agreeing with her with nods.

Cisco smirked. "That's what I thought at first, but he's the man in yellow. He's the Reverse-Flash. He's much smarter than that. Sympathy can't be the only reason."

"Yeah, it was a misdirect. Just like everything else Wells has done," Joe agreed, although they still didn't understand Cisco's point. "I mean, the last person we'd suspect to be the man in yellow is someone who lost the use of their legs."

"That's exactly right, Joe. Which is why I started messing around with the wheelchair," Cisco put down his soda on the floor and then turned over the wheelchair. He pulled a compartment lid out and revealed some sort of device stuck inside. "And that's when I found this."

"Daaaamn. You can't get that at Radio Shack," Joe's eyes widened.

"Looks like the tech inside Gideon…" Barry remarked as he looked at the device and only the device. Cisco didn't push him further.

"I measured the output, and this thing is kicking off serious juice. I mean, we're talking enough to power all of Central City."

"Why would Dr. Wells want something like that?" Belén quietly asked.

"I think this thing is some kind of battery…"

"Battery?"

"As in, Wells was using it to power himself. To gain more speed," Cisco gave a brief glance to Barry. "And that's why he's so much faster than you."

Barry, in return, gave a small nod of acknowledgement but nothing more. Cisco still didn't push.

One of the computers from the main desk began to beep with an alarm. Cisco rushed over with his soda back in hand and looked at the screen. "The accelerator, it's been reactivated!"

Caitlin hurried over to see for herself. "It can't be!"

"How is that possible? It blew up," Joe said what the remainder had been thinking of.

"It had to have been rebuilt," Caitlin theorized after checking more of the accelerator's state.

"That could...only be done by Wells, no?" Belén blinked, her stomach churning.

Caitlin agreed with Belén but was still having trouble seeing its logic. "Even if he did rebuild it, how did Dr. Wells turn the Particle Accelerator on?"

And then it clicked in Barry's mind. "He's _here_. That's why we couldn't find him. He's been inside S.T.A.R. Labs the whole time."

He and Joe hurried for the hallways. Cisco made to leave but warned Caitlin and Belén to stay behind. He rushed out but returned in a second for his soda, ignoring the odd looks from the two women.

Joe led the way into pipeline with a gun aimed ahead in case anything popped up. "Cisco, what did you bring in that orange soda for?"

"Whenever something happens with the Reverse-Flash, liquid floats in the air. You know, Barry's fish tank, Wells's champagne, remember that? If this does the same thing, we'll know that Wells is in there."

They stopped in front of the pipeline. Barry glanced at Cisco, for the first time, and nodded. "Do it."

Cisco placed a hand on the computer beside the pipeline to open it up. As the door lifted, the three stepped into the actual accelerator.

"Man... this... is... big," Joe couldn't help being astounded at the sight of the incredibly large particle accelerator.

Cisco froze when his soda began to rise in midair. "Oh, God. Guys…"

Wells sped right past them and of course Barry sped after him.

"Barry!" Joe turned after the two speedster that were already far gone.

' _Prisoner release. Protocol initiated_.'

Cisco saw one of the prison pods begin to love forwards. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

It turned out to be Shawna's prison pod - aka Peek-a-boo - and soon as the pod lost its power, she disappeared. She reappeared behind Joe and headbutted him with his own gun before disappearing again. She reappeared on the other side of the pipeline and shot a machinery part that forced the door to close, leaving Cisco and Joe on the other side.

Caitlin and Belén had run down after the release protocol had been activated.

"Peek-a-boo," Shawna smirked at them.

Belén grabbed Caitlin's arm and yanked her down the hallway. But, Shawna appeared before them at the entrance of the building and kicked Belén back before hitting Caitlin over the head.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be stuck in that box?" Shawna kicked Caitlin on the stomach and watched as the brunette rolled on the floor.

"She didn't lock you up! _I_ did!" Belén rushed forwards and tried punching Shawna old style. Shawna was well prepared for a basic fight and grabbed Belén by the hair, smacking the metahuman against the wall.

Belén hissed as she slid down the wall. Shawna grasped her by the neck and pinned her on the wall while aiming the gun at her. "Now you're the one who's gonna go into a box. In the ground!"

Belén could actually feel her skin prickling as it turned green. As of late, there were many things she was angry about and Shawna poked at the last bit of patience Belén had. Shawna flinched when Belén's hand grasped her arm.

"It's either the pod or the coffin for you," Belén warned before her vines drifted from her fingers to Shawna's wrist.

"Ew! What is that!?" Shawna freaked when the vines embedded _on_ her skin. "Get it off me!" she cried while the vines crawled up her arm.

Belén smirked without even moving an inch. She was clearly enjoying her powers at work and was somewhat disappointed when Shawna was whacked on the head with a large, metal wrench courtesy of Iris.

"Those are some _wicked_ powers you have," Iris admitted after a second. She could see the vines on Shawna's skin slowly disappearing now that they had no contact with Belén.

"New side and all," Belén reminded with a light shrug. She moved to help Caitlin from the floor when she groaned. "My head hurts."

"You may have a concussion," Caitlin predicted while she got up with Iris' help.

"Of course I do."

~0~

While Caitlin checked herself and Belén in the cortex, the rest went to return Shawna to her prison pod. Caitlin pulled the flashlight from Belén's eyes and set it over the metal table.

"I was right, you do have a concussion so…"

"Staying awake, got it," Belén nodded. She sighed after a moment and looked up at Caitlin. "Sorry I didn't get Shawna before she kicked you. I think I panicked in the beginning..."

"It's okay, it happens to all of us sometimes," Caitlin returned, looking very honest but Belén still blamed herself for letting things get that far.

"I've been off my game lately," Belén said even though she thought it was pretty obvious to everyone.

Caitlin smiled sadly, knowing how difficult things were for her friends at the moment. Despite the three having some unofficial agreement to continue working to capture Wells, Belén, Barry and Cisco didn't interact how they used to. It was all short, brief sentences when it came to speaking with Barry. Even between Belén and Cisco their conversations were short and brief because they didn't want to give Barry another reason to be upset.

"He'll come around," Caitlin put a comforting hand on Belén's arm.

"I don't know about that..." Belén mumbled.

"I hope," Belén said honestly. It'd been days, after all, since their fallout.

Their conversation was cut short when Joe and Iris brought in none other than Eddie from the pipeline. Cisco hurried in behind them and explained where they found the weakened detective. Caitlin immediately ran some exams on him in case Wells had done anything. After a thorough checkover, Caitlin concluded he was only a bit dehydrated and other than that he'd be fine. Barry returned after a long chase after Wells without success. Despite his tiredness, he was incredibly relieved to find Eddie had been found.

"Eddie, why did he take you?" Joe asked Eddie after everything had been settled.

"I don't know. He said that we're... family. Said his real name was Eobard Thawne," Eddie shook his head, still trying to come to terms with the idea of him and Wells being related.

"Eobard Thawne?" Cisco dreaded the familiarity of that name. "Just like in my dream."

"Did he say anything else?" Joe further asked. "I mean, anything that could help us figure out what he's really after?"

"I... he didn't say much," Eddie felt bad he couldn't be much help. "He just kept working on some tube."

"A tube? What did it look like?"

"Metallic, futuristic. He said it was the key to him getting back everything that was taken from him."

"The key?" Barry felt even more lost. "I don't understand."

"Wha... Yeah, I don't know. Look, I just want to go home. Is that okay?"

Caitlin gently removed the tape holding the IV needle on Eddie's hand. "Yes, of course."

Iris helped Eddie stand. "I'll make sure he gets some rest."

Barry waited until Iris and Eddie were gone to continue speaking. "What do you think Wells was talking about?"

But then the computer went off again and Cisco, once more, went to check on it. "Oh, no, no, no!" he said with widened eyes and ran out the room without so much of a hint of the problem.

"Did anyone else get free again?" Belén sighed as she came to the desk herself.

"What?" Barry said without thinking. Belén raised her head at him, surprised that had actually been directed at _her_.

Caitlin sensed the new awkwardness and made to cut it. "Wells initiated the release of a metahuman which turned out to be Shawna's. Belén and Iris got her though."

Barry's eyes widened as he now stared at Belén. There was a pang in her heart as she recognized the glint of worry in his eyes.

Cisco's voice cut through the silence that fell over in the room. Belén was startled to find the computer in front of her now serving as a video chat with Cisco. The man stood in front of a rock wall with a metal tube glowing blue sitting behind.

"Cisco?" Joe and the others moved to the desk to see as well.

"Um, are you seeing this? That's the tube Eddie was talking about," Cisco nodded to the device. "It's some sort of future power source. That's what's charging up the accelerator."

"Can you shut it down?" Barry inquired.

"Do you see a power button anywhere on this thing?" Cisco's sarcasm dripped in his words. "Dude, this thing is from the future. It's beyond me. I press, or touch, or cut the wrong thing, I could bring the whole building down."

"Okay," Barry saw his error and accepted it. "How long until it's fully functional?"

"Best I can tell, 36 hours."

Barry nodded. "That's when Wells will be back."

"Why would Dr. Wells want the Particle Accelerator to work again?" Belén asked, looking at the others for some answers. "I thought the whole point was to make it _not_ work?"

No one could answer her question.

"And what about the metahumans still in their containment cells?" Joe asked and made the others think for a bit.

Cisco shivered as he got the idea. "They're toast."

"We put them down there and now their lives are in danger because of us," Caitlin sighed as she got to thinking of the true danger those people were in.

"Look, I think you all know I've never been a fan of this arrangement here. I thought the whole plan was to rehabilitate them and set them free," Joe sternly told the group.

"It was," Caitlin argued but under the man's look she added weakly, "We've been a little busy."

"Well, if they stay in there, the die," Belén stated and sighed, "And if we let them go, they destroy the city. So...what do we do about them?"

Barry had been thinking about for a couple minutes now and concluded his idea was the only one they had left. "We're gonna have to move them."

Joe gave him a look. "Move them where? Iron Heights can't handle meta-humans."

"You're right, but Lian Yu can."

"What the hell's a "Lian Yu?"

Before Barry could explain, Belén did. "Lian Yu is the island where Oliver was stranded for five years. I heard A.R.G.U.S built some sort of covert military prison on it." She met eyes with a surprised Barry and added for his benefit, "He told me a while ago."

Barry tore his eyes from her, not quite ready to have a conversation with her...much to her disappointment. "It's where we sent Captain Boomerang. Oliver keeps his worst criminals there. They won't be able to escape, and more importantly, they won't be able to hurt anybody."

"Great. So we ship them from one illegal black site to another?" Joe was still not convinced with this idea, but he suspected it wouldn't matter. "And how do we move them to Oliver's own private Alcatraz?"

"I'll call him," Barry said, standing from his chair. "Maybe he can help with transport. And Cisco... if we do this, nobody can get loose."

Cisco nodded. "I might have a way of getting them out of here safely."

"Alright, get on it," Barry instructed and Cisco agreed, getting a head start out of the room.

"Barr, this is insane," Joe shook his head.

"Joe, we have to do this."

"You don't think that if we start bussing super-villains through downtown, nobody's gonna notice?"

"Oh, they'll notice. That's where you'll come in," Barry couldn't help smile as he began to tell his next part of the plan.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Belén was sitting silently at her desk, meant to be writing an article for the week yet her screen barely contained a measly paragraph. She had mind clouded with all sorts of thoughts ranging from the Particle Accelerator to her missing sister to...Barry. She mindlessly tapped her pen on the edge of her desk as she wondered what kind of solutions she could offer in case their primary one would fail.

Hearing her cellphone ringing, Belén forced herself to pay attention. She looked at the caller and saw it was Cisco.

"H-hello?"

"Bells, listen, we need you to come in," Cisco began, and sounding disappointed Belén deduced their plan hadn't worked.

"We need another idea, don't we?"

"Yeah...Joe couldn't get the CCPD to work with them," Cisco sighed. "Barry's coming over to think again, but...it would be good if you came too."

"Yeah, yeah...okay, I'm coming," Belén hung up and put her phone down on the desk. She rubbed her face and faced her screen again.

"Hey," Iris stopped by her desk with some papers in her hands. "Look what just got dumped on my desk?" she waved her papers in the air, leaving Belén to guess.

"A new assignment?"

"Not _my_ assignment," Iris rolled her eyes. "Spencer Young just got fired so I got her topic."

"She got fired?" Belén looked to the empty desk that once belonged to their co-worker. "Since when?"

"Since yesterday - where have you been?" Iris knew it was a dumb question to ask since Belén hadn't exactly been paying attention to her surroundings for days. "Larkin finally caught up with her lying words and fired her, _soooo_ I now get her unfinished work."

"Well, serves her right for not being an honest journalist," Belén said with a careless shrug afterwards. She hardly passed words with the ex-employee and it was for a good reason: she was _mean._ "So what's the topic about?"

"A spree of robberies done with - and I quote-" Iris made a quotation mark in the air with one hand while the other held the paper to read from, "-a freeze ray gun, a firey gun, and a golden gun. Sound familiar?"

A big scowl came to Belén's face. "Seriously, the last thing we need is for the Rogues to be back."

"Mhm, I'll do some digging on them but I don't think they'll be doing any more crimes since their thing is to do a series of robberies then disappear," Iris put her papers back together.

"I'll pass on the message to the others just in case," Belén said once Iris got leaving. She returned to her computer with the intention of continuing on her assignment - this time for real - when an idea popped into her head. _Oh, you're crazy_.

She snagged her phone back from the desk and dialed for a different number.

~ 0 ~

Barry was shifting on the park bench he was sitting on. The mere place brought back memories that reminded Barry of what he didn't have at the moment. He wondered if this was a trick being played on him, just to toy with his mind. Well, he didn't have more time to think on it when he saw Belén walking up to him.

"You came," Belén said with a sigh of relief. She was worried that Barry wouldn't show up at the last moment because of their disagreements. While they hadn't exactly argued, it was still pretty clear they were not in the best places. Belén didn't want to push Barry into talking when he had shown no interest in doing the same.

"I said I would," Barry reminded and got up. "Though I don't think I can care for this precise stop," his eyes flickered to the nearby fountain.

"Sorry, I just...needed to talk in a place where no one would bother us," Belén said, biting her lip, "I think I have an idea on how to get the metahumans out of the city."

"You do?" Barry's eyebrows rose with curiosity.

"But I don't think you'll like it…"

"Let me hear it."

"Iris just told me the Rogues are back in the city," Belén knew it was a big thing to say so she started to ramble on her evidence, "There were recent crime scenes that left a specific evidence trail to them. The police are very sure that Captain Cold is back in the city and doing his usual spree of crimes - I mean there's been frozen part of buildings that only a cold gun can do along with the occasional golden trails which really means that his sister is with him this time-"

"Belén, _breathe_!" Barry had put his hands on her arms to stop her from her rapid rambling. Belén blinked and blushed as she saw him so up close. Barry had realized what he'd done and instantly let her go, taking even a step backwards to get his head clear. "Just...just take a pause and breathe," he repeated nervously.

Glumly, Belén continued on with her original plan. "I was thinking we could find Snart and ask for his help."

"What!?"

"Snart is the only one crazy and tough enough to help us with all these metas! And since Oliver's not answering I think this is our only option."

Barry stayed quiet as he thought about it. He had tried getting in contact with Stein and Ronnie too but couldn't get through. Without the CCPD's help either, they really didn't have much options left. "Okay," he gave in. "I'll find Snart and talk to him-"

"Nu-uh," Belén cut him off with a frown. " _We_ will and before you open that mouth to tell me 'no', I'm reminding you that this was _my_ idea."

"You are not going," Barry gave her a sharp look but Belén wasn't stepping down.

In fact, just to prove herself, she stepped closer to him again, looking up at him defiantly. "Who says?"

"Belén…" Barry forced himself to look down at her without backing down as well. But in reality, he was beginning to fall under her charmful gaze and scent. _God, I miss her_ , was all that ran through his mind.

Belén's eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips, and continued to make her case. "It's my idea and I'm not letting you take it just like that. So either you take me with you, or you get to discover how mad a poisonous Azalea can get."

"Is that a threat?" Barry raised an eyebrow, feeling a tingle down his back as her lips stretched into a smirk.

"Take it however you'd like." Belén was pretty sure she was causing an effect on him judging by the fascinated look in Barry's eyes...and it made her feel pretty damn special knowing she was still the only one that could make him feel like that. "So, what's it going to be?"

Barry swallowed hard. "Well...lead the way, Miss Azalea."

~ 0 ~

It wasn't difficult to find out where Snart tended to spend some time after looking at some of the evidence left behind with the CCPD. Barry let Belén walk first into a solitary, pretty slum-looking bar where Leonard Snart was at. Barry didn't like the idea of having to bring Belén along but apparently he was out-charmed here.

Snart was able to sense their presence and turned from the counter with an unexpected smile. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the scarlet speedster." His eyes then flickered to the brunette woman and his smile turned to a smirk. "And shooter-girl."

"For real? I have a name," Belén frowned.

Barry didn't care for the interest Snart had in Belén and spoke over them to get things moving. "We need to talk."

With raised eyebrows, Snart moved over to them and took a casual seat on the edge of the pool table near them. "Oh? And you went looking for little ole me?"

"Shut up," Belén spoke over again. "We need your help with a problem."

"Mm, that's not the first time someone of yours asks for my help," Snart tilted his head her way with a knowing smile. Belén, startled, looked up at Barry out of reflex. Before Barry could snap at him, Snart went on. "Must be pretty desperate to come asking for my assistance, but I'll bite. What do you need?"

"Help transporting some people out of the city," Barry was able to say without showcasing his irritation with him.

"How many?"

"Six. Six very bad, very angry people who have powers."

"Powers, hmm? So you want me to what? Freeze the problem?" Snart looked at both who nodded their heads. "Protect you from them if anything goes wrong? First rule of business: always protect yourself. I'm not gonna help usher your enemies out of town."

"Oh, but you consorted with others to get what you want," Belén snapped. "Listen you're gonna do it because you need to do it."

"Oh, and why is that?" Snart feigned incredible interest in what she had to say, irritating both metahumans even more.

"These people are your enemies as well-"

"I doubt it-"

"They will destroy Central City which is your city as well," Belén paused, hoping he'd get the point but apparently not as he responded with a very easy 'not my problem'. "Imagine a city you can't rob because there's no more people to rob because they're all _dead_?"

Snart looked to the side, pausing to think. "It's a compelling argument. But if I'm gonna help you out. I'll need something in return."

"Yeah, we imagined," Barry rolled his eyes.

Snart pulled a pen from his jacket and moved to the nearest table. He got a menu and wrote down something which he then slid to Barry. "This."

Barry took one look and saw an outrageous amount of money. He laughed and looked at Snart. "No. this is impossible. We can't do that."

"Then I can't help you," Snart turned to leave when Belén angrily reached for his arm, and because she was angry her hand holding his arm turned green and scaly. Before Snart could realize, Barry lunged in a snap and yanked her hand from Snart's arm and kept it tightly shielded under his hand. They could not let her identity slip as well.

"There has to... Snart, there has to be something you want that we can get," Barry tried to reason with the man who keenly watching the two.

"Let me think about it," Snart only mildly relented. Perhaps there was something else, he just had to consider it more closely. With a wide smile, he turned to leave.

Almost as quick, Barry took Belén away as well. He stopped them in another part of the neighborhood to check her. She was breathing fast as he released her hand to reveal it was still its pretty bright green color.

"Barry, I-I-I didn't...I didn't mean to…" she tried to explain but Barry shook his head at her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he tried to soothe her, knowing that only calming her down would make her hand return to normal. "Just breathe, okay? Do that, c'mon," he mimicked the breathing pattern they had worked on long ago for these sorts of situations.

Belén quickly tried doing that but she kept remembering her slip that nearly cost her identity secret. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, I could have...I could have jeopardize it a-all I'm so sorry-"

Barry pulled her into a tight hug, a bit shaken himself from her reaction. He'd forgotten, honestly, that she was still trying to get a better control of her new side. He also remembered he had promised to help her get control no matter what. "It's going to be okay," he whispered, rubbing a hand over Belén's back.

~ 0 ~

After getting back to STAR Labs, Caitlin took Belén into one of the side rooms to give her another checkover to see if she'd been negatively affected by her sudden outburst of powers. Meanwhile, Cisco and Barry remained in the main cortex where the former had taken apart Wells' wheelchair along with its futuristic device in hopes of putting something together for their metahuman transfer. As Cisco worked, he kept glancing over at Barry who was keenly staring at the side room Belén and Caitlin were in. He hadn't muttered a word to Cisco.

 _Here goes nothing_. Cisco took in a deep breath and spoke up to the metahuman while trying to pull something apart. "She really likes you, dude, make no doubt about that." Barry said nothing except briefly glancing back at him before returning his eyes to the side room. "Barry, c'mon, are you really going to let things end because I asked her out before you?"

"Cisco, I'm not doing this now," Barry crossed his arms and turned a bit to the side.

"Well tough because I don't know when to quit," Cisco put down the device he was working on and sighed again, this time speaking much more seriously. "I asked her out like four months after your coma, okay? She wasn't sure at first but she said yes and I took her to dinner at-"

Barry shook his head and turned to Cisco, making a face that just showcased his disapproval of this. "Cisco, I don't want to hear about this...date thing." That was the problem: his mind would _only_ show him possible bits of Belén and Cisco dating. It was what made it difficult for him to talk to either of them. It's what made it hard to move on from it.

"You have to," Cisco adamantly replied. "You have to know what happened in order to finally move on."

Barry looked to the side without another word considering what Cisco believed was pretty correct. He was dying to know what exactly - and he meant _exactly_ \- what happened during that apparent date. Maybe it would help his mind in some way...

"We went to the movies, saw a funny movie and then we took a walk," Cisco continued. "It was fun, I'm not going to lie, because Bells is just so much fun to be around. She was cute-" Barry looked back at him with a warning expression but Cisco shrugged in response. "Hey, I'm not lying here. Your girlfriend's hot, okay? That's why I asked her out. But in the end, when we tried to kiss...we couldn't." And it did make Barry a little less concerned when he saw for himself how Cisco honestly seemed okay with it. "Bells and I realized we were friends, like best friends, and we liked that. Yeah, she's hot, as is Caitlin, as is Iris, - she's my attractive best friend who happened to end up going out with my other best friend. And I'm so happy for you two. Honest."

Barry sighed, shaking his head. "Cisco, I...it's just...it would've been better to hear from you first…"

"I know, and that's my bad, I accept it," Cisco raised a gloved hand. "I should've been a good friend and told you about this when you asked Caitlin and I to help you ask Bells out."

Barry stared at him and slowly began to smile. "But you were. Belén said she asked you not to say anything...and you didn't. You promised her and you kept it."

"Look, dude, I have _never_ tried anything with her since our date," Cisco meant to clarify once and for all. "She's Bells, my best friend, and _only_ my friend."

Barry nodded to show he acknowledged Cisco's words, but he didn't feel like he was quite _there_ to be okay. "Thank you."

"Of course," Cisco hoped his words would allow Barry to talk with Belén now.

A couple minutes later, Caitlin brought out a much more calm Belén into the room. Barry turned back expectantly. "She's fine," Caitlin began, placing a hand on Belén's shoulder, "It's actually very interesting how some points of that other side can affect Belén and others don't."

"Yeah, trust me, it's not that interesting from _my_ perspective," Belén admitted.

At that moment, Joe walked into the room, a hasty entrance, with narrowed eyes on the two metahumans. "What the hell were you two thinking calling Leonard Snart for help!?"

Barry winced and slowly turned around. He'd called Joe to explain their idea and needless to say the man was not happy.

Joe came right up to them. "Do we not remember who Snart is!?" Caitlin and Cisco slowly inched away from them back to the table Cisco was working with the device on.

"Joe, it was my idea," Belén stepped forwards. "Barry just went along with it."

"Which puts both of you at fault," Joe sternly responded. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

"Because, Joe, we have already tried everyone else. Look, you tried the CCPD. I tried Oliver. I even tried Ronnie and Dr. Stein," Barry, frustrated explained their lack of options. "And the Particle Accelerator goes online in…"

"16 hours," Cisco called.

"16 hours, Joe. I'm not willing to let the metas die, and we can't let them escape, either. So, like it or not, Snart, with his cold gun, is the only one that can stop them if Cisco's transportation does not hold."

"Then lucky for you I figured out what it is you can get me," Snart surprised them with his presence. Despite Joe initially pulling out a gun on him, Snart took a nice calm strode through the room, taking an observation. "Hello, Detective. Nice to see you again. Caitlin, Cisco." He came up to Barry and Belén with a smirk. "I thought about your proposal. You want my help, this is what I want. My fingerprints, dental records, DNA, criminal records, family tree, everything there is in this world concerning Leonard Snart. I want it destroyed. All of it. At CCPD, online, everywhere."

Belén stood there dumbfounded at such an outrageous price.

"The brass on this dude," Joe muttered. "You really think we'd do that for you?"

"Absolutely not-" Belén was midway turning him down when Barry cut her off with his own decision.

'I'll do it. If it's the only way, fine."

Belén whipped her head at him with widened eyes. Joe was in the same predicament and immediately ordered Barry to talk with him in the training room.

"I can't believe you're asking for that much," Belén snapped at Snart after being left alone. Caitlin and Cisco still remained there, half pretending to work and half ready to attack.

Snart smirked her way. "Then you're not as bright as you're made out to be."

"You don't know anything about me," Belén stepped forwards.

"I know about your family."

"Lies."

"Really? I know about your wayward brother," Snart loved the stunned reactions he got from everyone in the room. "I mean, I know my sister isn't exactly innocent but at least I know where she is. Can't say the same for you and your sister, though."

"Listen to me," Belén got in Snart's face, leaving Caitlin and Cisco in a little panic state because of how Snart might react, "I know damn well what my sister does behind my back - and I know that she worked with you - so you can put away your mighty attitude with me. I know that my family's rotten."

Snart raised an eyebrow at her, somewhat impressed. "Quite the burden you must carry, then...being the only good one left. Maybe you should think about switching, huh?"

"I would never," Belén stepped back. "It's more fun putting criminals like you away."

"Well, if this is it, you can tell your boyfriend I'll be waiting by the Algiers tonight for all my files. This criminal's not going anywhere!" he turned around and headed out of the room.

Belén's eyes flickered to Caitlin and Cisco. "It's going to be my fault if that guy ever rules the city."

"Maybe you should talk to Barry about it," Caitlin suggested but Belén scoffed.

"Please, he won't talk to me unless it's business and this would just be me telling him not to do something."

"Okay, how do you intend for this cold shoulder argument to end if neither of you get over it and talk?" Cisco moved for the desk where he left some of his licorice.

"Because he doesn't want to talk, Cisco! It's been days and...nothing."

"Well I just talked to him and he seemed ready...ish..."

Belén deadpanned him for a moment. "It's not funny, Cisco. And you know what? Maybe it's...it's just not going to get better."

"Belén..." Caitlin mildly gaped at her friend. "You don't acutally...mean that, do you?"

"I don't know," Belén admitted. She brought her hands to her hair and sucked in a breath. "I've got family problems like there's no tomorrow and-and maybe it'd be easier to deal with things if I didn't drag Barry with me."

"Okay, you know that's not true," Caitlin looked over to Cisco for some help. The man seemed to be thinking about something and that clearly involved not talking for the moment. "Belén, I think you're just tired-"

"-it's a possibility," Belén let her hands fall to her sides. "But I mean...what if I talk to him and he can't get over the date? What if - what if he doesn't want to be with me anymore? Things could be over."

" _Nope_!" Cisco's sudden pop startled the two women. "Absolutely not, I will not have crazy talk in this room."

"Cisco, what-" Belén was cut off by Cisco coming over and grabbing her arm. "Where are we going!?" she asked when he started leading her out of the cortex, even looking back at Caitlin for some help.

"Cisco, what are you doing?" Caitlin rushed after them. "Cisco!"

"I'm knocking some sense into her!"

"With _what_!?" Belén exclaimed with actual fear in her tone.

"The future!"

Caitlin's eyes widened when she realized where Cisco was heading for. He brought them to Thawne's secret vault, and despite Caitlin's warning for him to think about it, Cisco opened the vault and yanked Belén in.

"This is Wells' creepy lair - why am I here?" Belén pretended to shiver.

"This is why," Cisco walked up to the small podium. "Glad I figured out how to bring it up," he mumbled as he passed his hand over the podium, bringing up the futuristic article to life.

"Woah..." Belén blinked. She crinkled her nose, however, when she read the title of the article and saw the subject of it. "No, hold on...what is this?"

"It's what we found a while ago," Cisco looked at Caitlin, "We don't really know what it means but...I think you'll see something pretty interesting."

"Apart from the fact this thing says Barry will go missing...not exactly sure what else is supposed to be 'interesting'," Belén walked up to the article to read, or at least try to skim since the words were pretty small. "This is from 2024..."

"It's the future, as of now," Caitlin came to stand beside her.

"Get out," Belén blinked with awe. "But...but he goes missing?" her hand came to rest over her heart as the fear started creeping over her. "Barry goes missing in the future?"

"Check out who wrote the article," Cisco nodded her to look underneath the byline.

It only took her a couple seconds to see her own name written there - well, her new name. "Oh...oh my...that's _me_ ," she pointed at it as if the other two hadn't already seen it. "Like...like..."

A big, teasing smile spread across Cisco's face. "As in your future married name?"

"Shut up," Belén said automatically, though the visible red on her face made it hard for Cisco not to keep smiling. Even Caitlin was having trouble keeping her smile hidden. "Francisco Ramon you better shut up."

"Belén, I get that you're scared to talk to Barry but this-" Cisco gestured at the article, "-proves that everything works out for you two. It means your destiny is to marry him."

Belén's eyes gazed over her name again. _Annah-Belén Allen_. Her heart may have skipped a beat or two. "It's not destiny," she said quietly, her eyes flickering between Caitlin and Cisco. "Destiny isn't what makes that happen," she pointed at her name. "It's my decision - it's _our_ decision - to get married. But that could change at any time. What matters is what I want right _now_ and what I really want is to go get my boyfriend back."

She smiled at her two friends and turned on her heels. She had somewhere to go.

~0~

Barry didn't know if he was purposely lingering in his lab to wait out the employees in the precinct and get the files for Snart...or if he was doing it to avoid being shouted at by Joe again. It wasn't like he wanted to steal but it was the only option they had left if they wanted help to transfer the metahumans. It was literally their only option left.

"Barry!" he flinched after hearing Belén's sharp call. She came striding into the lab with an air of confidence. "Barry Allen we are going to talk and we are going to talk _now_!"

"Um...okay..." Barry rubbed the side of his neck, somewhat afraid of her right now. "Uh-"

"-yes, I went on a date with Cisco, and yes it did involve hand holding and shared popcorn and a nice romantic dinner but it involved no kissing and the most important thing is that it didn't continue," Belén was aware she was rambling but if he was a speedster then he would be able to keep up with her. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before but I thought it would just freak you out - which it did-" she gestured at their current situation, "-and I honestly thought it was irrelevant. Cisco is one of my best friends but _you_ are the one I want to be with."

Barry considered speeding and make time stop just to think about everything she'd said. He stared at her silence, thinking about her words and... _her_. She seemed so determined and perhaps it was a misplaced determination because...

"I'm a jerk," he sighed.

Belén blinked. "What?" she'd been expecting a little more than just that.

"I'm a big jerk, and an idiot, and a lot of other things but I'll leave it at that," Barry sighed again. "In Iris' words: I am a drama queen. I overreacted about this whole...dating thing between you and Cisco. In my defense, it was kind of sprung out of nowhere and it-it is a very hard picture to get out of my head."

"Well see, I don't want you to just ignore it or bottle it in. I get that it's a weird thing - I'd probably be a little on the fence if you happened to date Caitlin before me. It's natural, but I don't want it to be the cause of our break up," Belén crossed her arms, that confidence of hers dwindling the more she thought about the potential outcomes of this talk. "I don't want us to break up, Barry. If you need time, I get that, but...I don't want it to be a permanent time."

"I don't need time," Barry said, easing some of her concerns. "I just need you right now." He felt a ping in his heart seeing her light up so quickly. "I'm sorry."

Belén's smile was so wide it could have cracked her face. She rushed up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her senseless. He missed her _a lot_.

A couple minutes passed before they pulled apart.

"I'm not letting you go for another couple minutes," Belén warned about her arms still clinging to Barry's neck. "In case you get any other ideas for arguments."

"I won't," Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "I know I was an idiot."

"A little," Belén lightly shrugged. "But it was a valid emotion to feel."

"It just...got me thinking, you know? What if it things had worked out with you and Cisco? Then I would've come back from my coma to a world where Bells...wasn't _my_ Bells."

Belén's face warmed up. "You didn't even like me back then, Barry. We were just friends."

Barry rested his forehead against hers. "I believe that I would have fallen for you no matter what. Then what would I have done?"

"Best not to think like that," Belén chuckled. "Because it didn't happen and it's not happening. Besides, according to a certain article you neglected to tell me about, we sort of end up married and all that jazz..."

Barry almost choked on his saliva. "Wh-what?" he met Belén's straight face. "Y-you know about that?"

"Cisco showed it to me earlier. You must have given me one hell of a proposal if I ended up not hyphenating."

"U-uum..." Barry swallowed hard, knowing well his face was warming up now. "I didn't tell you because I thought it would freak you out. Most people don't like their future planned out like that."

"Yeah, but, I see that article as something that can happen if _we_ -" she pointed between them, "-want it to happen, not if _it_ wants it. And I may not be in the marrying stage but it is something I'd consider in the future."

"Really?" Barry was honestly surprised she was taking it so easily.

"You wouldn't?"

"Y-yeah I would," he said quickly, stammering it that Belén laughed. "It's not - it's not funny."

"Kind of is," Belén pulled him closer to where her lips brushed over hers when she spoke. "It's okay. I'd marry a funny dork if it was you."

"What? That's just _rude_ -"

Belén chuckled and kissed him again.

~ 0 ~

The following day, once everything had been settled, Lisa and Leonard Snart met the rest of the group at STAR Labs who had also been infomred of their arrangement.

"Please tell me this is a joke," Caitlin couldn't stop gaping as she had the two Snart siblings in front of her and Cisco.

"Oh," Lisa pretended to pout, "you were right, Lenny. She _is_ very uptight."

Caitlin's eyes widened. "I am not uptight!" she glanced at the others expecting to be backed up. Cisco and Belén looked away while Barry apologetically smiled her way. With a heavy irritation, Catilin looked back at the smirking Lisa. "You can't call me uptight!"

"Okay, there's no need to argue," Belén stepped in before poor Caitlin lost it. "We don't like each other - that much we can all accept - we just need to get through this one day."

Caitlin sighed and looked over to Barry, frowning. "Why are you two wearing your masks?" she gestured to the two metahumans who wore their respective suits. "Snart already knows who you are."

"And I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," Snart glanced at Lisa. "That includes my sister."

"Jerk," Lisa sarcastically spat.

"Trainwreck," responded Snart. He met eyes with Joe who'd remained silent throughout the entire morning. Joe just didn't agree with any of this and still thought neither Snart should be there. "Don't look so surprised, Detective. I am a man of my word."

"Yeah, you better be. Or I'm gonna make sure you're on that damn plane, too," Joe warned and turned to leave. There was much to do before they left with the metahumans.

"Hey, Cisco…" Lisa went after Cisco.

Cisco turned around with narrowed eyes. "Oh, hey, Captain Cold's evil sister."

"Aww. You're not still mad at me, are you?" Lisa feigned an apologetic pout as she got closer to him. "I really did enjoy kissing you."

"Hold the phone - you kissed her!?" it was Belén who caught the conversation and shot Cisco a look from across the room.

"Under duress-" Cisco motioned her to calm down.

"'Duress' my a-"

"Bells if I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous…" Barry sauntered up to her, distracting her from the continuing conversation between Cisco and Lisa. Still, Cisco led Lisa out of the cortex for safety reasons.

"Oh no, are we going to argue again?" Caitlin genuinely asked with concern.

"Don't worry, we made up," Belén said cheerfully. "I won't date any of his friends unless he makes new hot friends."

"I didn't say that!" Barry turned on her with a deep frown on his face.

"Shh!"

Caitlin smiled at the two. It was nice having them back to their regular selves; certainly more amusing.

~0~

When night settled over the city, everyone was set to go. Cisco had procured a moving truck that belonged to one of his uncles. He rigged its back to situate their six metahumans in the back who wouldn't have their powers for the duration of their trip. Getting to the warehouse was no problem as Barry made a clear pathway for them through the streets. It was the waiting part that would soon bring them trouble.

"Ferris Air? I thought this place got shut down," Snart remarked as he climbed off his motorcycle once they entered the solitary place where the ARGUS airplane was meant to be at any moment.

"It did. One of their test pilots disappeared," Barry distractedly responded as he stared out into the dark sky looking for the airplane.

Joe, Caitlin and Belén got out of their car and walked over to the two. "So what's the plan? I want to get this over with," Joe said.

"It should be here any minute," Barry promised. "Look, Joe, I know you don't agree with this…"

Joe shook his head. "Save it, Barr. I just want to get it done." He walked away.

As Caitlin followed in suit, Belén was left staring at Snart...who soon caught on and smirked.

"Something on your mind sweetheart?" he asked. Barry quickly looked at the two, confused.

Belén remained with a straight face. "Do you know where my sister is right now?"

"No I do not."

"And why would I believe you?"

"Because I don't particularly like your sister and would very much like to see you get your hands on her."

"I would never hurt my sister, Snart," Belén shook her head, but Snart just smirked.

"When your family goes rogue, you don't have much choices. Besides, she was willing to hurt you and your friends, why not pay her with the same coin?"

Belén stared at Snart without much words in mind. Snart knew he had won and turned for Barry. "Your A.R.G.U.S. friends aren't very prompt. Maybe that's why they've never been able to catch me."

Caitlin came to them once she caught sight of the airplane. "Look, there it is."

"Guys, guys!" Cisco ran out from the truck. "We have a problem. The damper's fluctuating. The rig's losing power. I don't know why."

Barry turned to him, panicking. "Wait, can you do something?"

"I'm trying!" Cisco frantically worked with his tablet.

An odd lightning crackled from the sky, but they knew better than that.

"Oh, God. Mardon," Joe recalled the terrible metahuman.

The airplane was struck by the lightning and crashed landed way across them. At the same time, the truck's backdoor flung open and the metahumans piled out ready for action.

"Trip's canceled!" Mardon cackled. "Take your last breath!"

Simmons shot red lasers towards the group, causing them to quickly disband towards hiding places. In the middle of her running, Belén crashed into Azul.

Gasping, Belén tried running in a different direction.

"Where are you going, _Bells_?" Azul shot a blast of ice towards her. Although it didn't directly hit her, the terror of the attack knocked her down. "We have a pending score to settle."

"Azalea!" Cisco shouted and made a move to go help her but he, Caitlin and Joe, were forced behind a car as they dealt with Mardon, Bivolo and Simmons.

"N-Noah!" Belén pushed the man off and tried punching him. Azul grasped her wrist and used it to twist her down to her back. Belén hissed with eyes screwed shut.

"I bet Rayan is gonna be real happy to see your ass dead," Azul smirked. "Too bad it'll be too easy."

Belén allowed her anger to take over again and with it her new side. Her skin became that emerald green, even her eyes seemed to shift towards a magenta color for a moment. "Or how about I bring _you_ to _him_ instead?" she surprised him with. Her nails gripped his wrist and pushed through his skin.

Her vines crept onto him, but unlike with Shawna, they grabbed him whole and threw him to the side.

"Let's settle the score, Azul. Once and for all!" she called and went after him.

Meanwhile, Barry was dealing with Nimbus who was trying to poison him with his noxious gas. He could see his friends and Belén needed help but everytime he tried getting back into the warehouse Nimbus threatened to kill him. He had to deal with Nimbus first, no options left.

Belén's started flinging pieces of vines as if they were shards, but Azul broke them with his icicles. He put his hands together and fired with an icy smoke that chilled the surroundings. Through the fog, Belén could see Simmons firing lasers at Barry who was attempting to get back in. She was also able to see Mardon strike him down with a rackling thunder.

"Boyfriend's going bye-bye," Azul laughed. "Just like you will."

Snart's words came back to Belén's mind. If they were so willing to hurt her, then what was stopping her from doing the same?

Belén charged forwards, clearing the chill with her own poison. She swung an angry fist at Azul, surprising him and knocking him down. Her vines crawled over her hands, forming sharp ends like daggers. She raised them up but before she brought them down, a streak of gold hit Azul and killed him.

Belén dropped her hands and whipped around to see Lisa holding her golden gun. In that moment, Belén realized what she'd been about to do and stepped away from the corpse. All the green faded from her skin, the magenta in her eyes disappearing too. _Oh my God!_

Snart himself shot Simmons with his cold gun, killing him instantly. "How about we call tonight a tie?" Snart addressed the remaining metahumans Mardon and Bivolo with his cold gun still aimed at them.

Bivolo aimed to whammy Snart when he felt a cold metal on the side of his head. Lisa had anticipated it and was threatening to cover him with gold just as Azul.

"I'd power down if you don't want me to melt your face."

"Let's all go our separate ways," Snart insisted and lowered his gun. "My name is Leonard Snart-"

"I know who you are," Mardon cut him off. Who didn't know if the famous Snart?

"Always pleased to meet a fan. Just remember who it was made sure you didn't get thrown on that plane bound for nowhere." Snart pointed out to the disastrous place and started in another direction.

"You're just letting us go?" Mardon couldn't buy it as he looked to the now-dead Simmons on the floor. "Why'd you shoot that guy?"

Snart shrugged."He owed me money."

Mardon frowned as Snart gave off an expectant look. "Mmm. What? You want a "thank you?"

"Who doesn't like a "thank you?""

"Thank you…?" Bivolo said slowly, still under the threat of Lisa's gun.

"You are so very welcome," Snart made it to where Barry had been left on the ground.

"You sabotaged the truck, didn't you?" Barry asked through a strained voice. He shifted on the ground, trying and failing to get up. "Why did you let them escape?"

"Because now they all owe me. And something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me as part of my rogues than rotting away in the North China sea."

"You gave us your word…"

Snart laughed and bent down beside him. "It's true, I did. But here's the thing. I'm a criminal and a liar, and I hurt people, and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage, and I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself. This is on you, Barry. Even your little girlfriend backed off at the last moment because she knew this could happen."

"Then why don't you just kill me?"

"Well, I guess you owe me one now, too. Good luck with... all of this." Snart straightened up and walked back towards his motorcycle. Before he did, he spotted Belén. He walked for her instead and met her glaring eyes. "Well, so much for not hurting people, huh?"

Belén frowned and made to go for him but at the last moment forced herself to stay still. These powers, with all its glory, were still uncontrollable at times. She _needed_ to get a better handle on it.

~0~

After all had been done and, well, cleaned up, the group dejectedly returned to STAR Labs. Caitlin settled immediately into her medical expertise as she checked herself to make sure she was no longer under the effects of Bivolo's powers, then moved on to Belén and Barry. With Barry's quick healing powers, he was back in physical aptitude faster than she could finish the check up. Belén had less injuries but it would still take a while for her to get better again. So, despite being told to 'take it easy', when Caitlin finished with her, Belén got right up and went in search of her boyfriend who'd mysteriously gone missing after hearing they were all fine.

The Particle Accelerator was set to go off in just a couple of minutes so Belén knew Barry must be taking it far harder than anyone else right now.

"Hey," she playfully knocked on the side of the pipeline's threshold once she found him sitting down on the slightly raised floor.

"Bells, you're supposed to be resting," Barry got up to help her walk in. Despite not bearing severe injuries, she was still walking a bit slower.

"Barry, I'm fine - well, I'm going to be fine, you know," Belén said but let him lead her to where he'd been sitting at. "Caitlin says I just have some nasty bruises…"

"Painful ones," Barry noticed her wince when she put a hand over her back.

"It's fine," Belén insisted and turned her head at him. "I tried to kill someone so believe me, my physical injuries are the least of my worries."

Barry glanced at her, knowing this was probably going to haunt her for a while. "The powers took you over, it wasn't you out there."

"Except it was," Belén sighed. "I've been angry for a while. I'm angry that my brother has been spying on me, has been hurting me. I'm angry with Maritza about lying to me and hurting me too. I'm angry that my Dad got killed. I'm just angry, Barry, and I'm releasing it in ways that I didn't think I ever could. If Lisa hadn't shot Azul...I probably would have stabbed him."

Barry put his arm around her shoulders and brought her to his side. "We've been through a lot."

"Yeah..."

"Tonight was my fault, though. I've seen the way that Oliver does things, and he's not afraid to just do whatever it takes to get what he needs, and I thought that I could do that too. I thought I could just use Snart, but instead he used me."

"Well, to be fair, the whole idea was _my_ idea…" Belén rubbed her arm.

"Yeah, but, Bells," Barry shifted to face her, "you didn't agree - you didn't _want_ to agree to Snart's deal. You knew something like this could've happened because you...you were smart, you didn't fall for it. I did."

"I was being a scary-cat and you were being calculating," Belén offered an alternative way to see things. "I mean, yeah, okay, maybe you were trying to be a little too much like Oliver...which-" she leaned closer to him with a soft smile gracing her lips, "-I wouldn't like to see, honestly. The Arrow is the Arrow, and that's not the kind of hero I know you are. I'd rather you dealt with things the Flash way."

"Yeah, and how's that?" Barry tilted his head, a bit curious to know what she thought.

"Mm," Belén looked to the side as she came up with her answer. "You actually cared about whether or not those criminals lived or died. Oliver probably would've seen them as collateral damage. You don't do walks in the dark side, you shouldn't."

"Tell you what," Barry began a new proposal, "Next time I get a crazy idea to agree to a criminal's word...you snap me out of it by all means."

"Can I smack you?"

"Yes...if necessary."

"Okay, deal!"

Barry stared at the excited ombre-blonde a bit worried. "You, uh...you agreed a bit fast on that one…"

Belén chuckled. "Well, who doesn't jump on the opportunity to smack some sense into their boyfriend?" Barry wasn't exactly sure that was a good thing. Belén surprised him with a small kiss on the lips. "But if you don't do more dark-side experimenting, you can get one of these."

"That sounds absolutely fair," Barry instantly nodded his head. "And I promise you that we're going to continue that training."

"Okay," Belén nodded.

Suddenly, an alarm blared from the ceiling and soon they heard Cisco's voice calling them from the speakerphone.

"Guys... The Particle Accelerator is fully charged and online. Whatever Wells needs it for, it's ready."

Barry took Belén's hand and helped her up to her feet. "C'mon," he helped her walk out the room towards the cortex.

All the computers were raging with alarms as the Particle Accelerator prepared to activate yet again. No one knew what was meant to happen, but they knew one thing for sure was that Wells was returning. Taking precautions, Barry once again changed into his suit and stood ready by the computers.

"He wants you to go out there," Belén sighed once she caught sight of Wells walking in through the front gate like nothing.

"And I will," Barry said, not denying he _needed_ this battle.

This was the part where Belén hated not being a speedster, because it meant she wouldn't be able to help him. "I don't want you to go out there alone," Belén knew she was speaking for everyone, especially Joe.

"I need to go. If I don't, he'll come in," Barry looked at the others and hoped they would see it the way he was. It was precaution, after all. He sped out of the room to go meet Wells.

"Hey, Wells isn't alone," Cisco said after noticing another figure in the screen.

" _What_?" Belén practically shoved Cisco to the side in order to look at the computers. He let it go on account of the situation (but her hand was actually pretty strong). "Oh absolutely _not_." The venom in her tone was uncharacteristic of her, even her stride for her own suit, but the moment the computer was available again, and Caitlin, Cisco and Joe saw who else was out there...they understood.

"Belén, hold on," Cisco came around the desk as fast as he could to stop her from leaving. "You can't go out there-"

"-pretty sure I just told Barry that and he had to go. Now it's my turn. Pixel is out there and I'll be damned if she lays a finger on Barry. Plus, she and I have another score to settle too."

"But Barry's not alone anymore," Caitlin pointed out. "Firestorm and the Arrow just showed up. Belén, it's okay to stay in here now."

Belén thought about it logically but despite knowing the numbers were in their favor, she couldn't just sit there and watch Pixel have her own fun against them. "Wells - or Thawne - brought her in because of me. He has no use for her except to taunt me."

"Then don't let him," Cisco put his hands on her shoulders.

Green crept across Belén's face and down her arms. "I can't, Cisco."

Her vines grabbed her suit from behind and together they disappeared. Cisco whirled around to Joe and Caitlin. "What do we do now!?"

"Hope neither of them gets killed," Joe _despised_ that answer, and yet there was seriously nothing else they could do but that.

~ 0 ~

Pixel cackled while she actively dodged Oliver's arrows. "Bet you can't catch me!" her sing-song attitude irritated the hell out of the man. It appeared more like she was playing a game with them, and that's exactly what she was doing.

Well, the game was about to shift opponents.

Pixel was ducking as another arrow threatened to get her, and since her gaze was on Oliver she didn't notice the vines coming for her back. She yelped when the tendril squeezed her arms to her sides.

"I got her," Belén told Oliver and nodded for him to go help Barry. It seemed like Wells had thrown Firestorm quite far without his fire to protect him.

Pixel laughed, her shoulders shaking with her. " _You_ got me? As if." She whipped her entire body around and pulled Belén with the vine. Her energy cut through the vines and gave her an opportunity to strike first.

Belén felt the connection of Pixel's hand with her chin and vowed the woman would _get_ it now. She was done being Pixel's and Rayan's punching bag, their innocent doll. No more.

Belén retaliated with her poisonous smoke and while Pixel fought to keep her lungs clean, the ombre-blonde delivered a roundhouse kick that may or may not have earned her a cheer inside STAR Labs. "That felt good," she admitted to herself. She flinched, however, when she heard a loud clang and turned to see Wells' body landing against the fence, courtesy of Barry.

"That's the spirit! You can't stop me, Flash. And you never will," Wells smirked impossibly wide as he detached himself from the fence. Perhaps it was a game to him too.

Barry glared at him but said nothing in return. Instead, he took off for the side of building and got Wells to chase after him.

Pixel jumped to her feet and grabbed Belén in a choke-hold. "First, I'll kill you, and then I'll get Azul out and together we'll kill everyone in that building." She nodded at the building where the two speedster's lightning trails illuminated their eyes.

"Azul is _dead_!" Belén managed to say in-between gasps for air.

It was enough to cause distraction. "What!?" Pixel blinked.

Belén shoved her elbow into the woman's stomach, forcing Pixel to keel over in pain. Belén whirled around and didn't hesitate to throw another kick, this time getting Pixel right on the chin. "An eye for an eye!" she spat and thrust her vines forwards to tie the woman up.

Pixel growled and shrieked as vine after vine wrapped over her body. Belén worked fast to keep Pixel's powers from penetrating her vines, but her eyes were also flickering up to the building where the rest of the men were fighting. She flinched when Wells came crashing down onto a car but was relieved to see Oliver coming through with one specific arrow. A tranquilizer specifically made for a speedster.

Barry, Firestorm and Oliver soon gathered over the unconscious speedster, all wearing pretty proud smiles.

"Thanks, fellas," Barry said truthfully.

"No problem," Oliver nodded at him.

"Nice haircut. And I see we've abandoned our traditional green..." Barry mused now that he noticed Oliver's darker green suit.

"Green is such a good color though, isn't it?" Belén gestured to herself. "Any shade works."

Oliver smiled for a moment. He then looked over to Barry, back in his Oliver-seriousness way. "Look... I might need a favor from you."

"Wherever, whenever," Barry assured him. Oliver nodded once more then shot an arrow ahead to take him home.

"I'm guessing dear old Firestorm wants to see a Dr. Caitlin Snow?" Belén smirked at the fiery metahuman. "And one Clarissa?" her smirk, however, suddenly vanished as she started to convulse on the spot.

"Belén!?" Barry panicked and went for her only to feel a force pinning his feet to the ground.

Belén found it hard to breathe despite knowing there was nothing wrong with her. Her legs buckled and soon had her drop to her knees. "I-I can't - I can't move! I can't - ah!" her left shoulder lurched forwards.

Firestorm looked around and only spotted Pixel untangling herself from Belén's vines. Her entire body disappeared and re-formed across from them where a second figure was approaching. The entry gate was flung to the side without every being touched.

"It's over, Belén," Rayan came to a stop beside Pixel. "It's finally over for you."

Belén could hear her brother's voice but as much as she tried to get, take control of her body, she just couldn't. "Wh-wat's happening? Barry!?"

"Don't bother," Rayan balled his fists so that Belén, Barry and even Firestorm felt the true weight of his new ability. The metas shared screams of pain as they felt the insides of their bodies twisting.

Inside STAR Labs, there was a heavy panic of death.

"What is he doing!?" Joe turned to the two scientists in a hurry.

"I think...I think he's controlling their bodies," Caitlin did the best she could through a screen. She focused on Rayan's position and movements. "His telekinetic powers, in theory, can grant him the ability to control anything...including a human body."

"We gotta stop that before he kills them," Joe turned to go, his hand nearing the gun he carried.

"Pixel is going for Wells," Cisco's eyes widened. "Is it too late to call Oliver back? Maybe Nina?"

"I am going out there!" Joe took off and, panicked and afraid, Caitlin and Cisco ran after him.

"So sad," Pixel carelessly stepped around the three metas on the ground. "Azul may be dead but at least you'll be too." Her eyes twinkled at the sight of blood coming out from Belén's nose. "Maybe you can be first, Belén."

"Get the speedster and go," Rayan nodded towards Wells' unconscious body. There was a clear strain on his face from keeping three whole bodies down at the same time.

Pixel disappeared and reappeared by Thawne's side, and just as she was about to reach for his arm she heard the building's door open up. She looked over and smirked at the sight of the three non-metas. "Well, it's either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid of you to come out and play."

"Get the hell away from them," Joe held his gun directly at her, but seeing Rayan maintaining control over the others made it difficult to pick one.

Pixel saw it and smirked again. "Who would you shoot, Detective? _Can_ you shoot one of us?"

"To save my kid, the hell I will," Joe cocked his gun at her since she was beginning to come for them now. "Back the hell up."

"Or _what_?" she demanded. She waved a hand and shot some of her electrical energy, making Joe drop the gun to the side. "Oh, no more weapons. What happens now, Detective?"

"Pixel! Get Thawne!" Rayan yelled in frustration. Blood was forming under his nose too and, if Caitlin was seeing right, at the corner of his eyes too.

"No, I want them dead too!" Pixel prepared to fire at the trio but her body was suddenly tackled down from a figure who dropped from the air. The two rolled over until it was Maritza who hovered over.

" _You_?" Pixel blinked in surprise. "Where the hell have you been!?"

Maritza punched the woman across the face. "That's for hurting my sister!" she then struck again. "And that's for trying to hurt the others!"

Pixel was groggy but her anger got her to focus fast. Her electrical energy connected with Plasticine's chest, throwing the woman to the side. "I knew you were a traitor," Pixel got up and wiped some of the blood from her busted lip. "Just like little sister over there."

"Maritza, what the hell are you doing?" Rayan managed to ask despite his ongoing struggle.

"Rayan, you have to stop!" Plasticine looked up from the ground. "We got it wrong - we got it _so_ wrong! Wells was the enemy, not the Flash. You need to stop this!"

"You're betraying me too," Rayan nodded. "Then you can die too."

Maritza's eyes widened, knowing what was coming for her, so she built a wall with her purple mass to cover herself from whatever Rayan was going to throw at her. It was sturdy enough to deflect part of the wired fence, but not enough to protect her from the chunk of the car Thawne had fallen over. Maritza crashed on her back, her head taking a mighty blow. She groaned and brought a hand to her forehead, turning her head just a bit. When she opened her eyes she saw Joe's gun lying next to her.

She could hear the collective cries from her sister and the other two metas. "We need to stop!" Maritza snatched the gun and aimed it at Rayan then Pixel. She moved it between them, much like Joe had earlier.

"Please, you're going to shoot your own brother?" Rayan scoffed.

Maritza's eyes flickered to the smirking Pixel who was preparing to fire again. "Nope," she suddenly changed targets and shot Pixel. The platinum blonde clearly hadn't been expecting it - much less that Maritza had actually done it - as the bullet plunged right through her chest.

"Oh my God!" Caitlin exclaimed as Pixel's body collapsed on the ground. Joe and Cisco kept her back, though, since the match wasn't quite over.

Maritza seemed unfazed, but angry as hell, as she moved the gun back on Rayan. "Next one goes through your foot, Rayan. Let them go _now_."

Rayan looked at Maritza for a full minute, and since the pressure was taking a toll he _needed_ to let them go. He raised his hands to show the telekinetic force was lifted. Maritza looked down at the three metas and was relieved to see Belén sucking in a deep breath.

"Like I said, this isn't over!" Rayan's snap brought her back. "You and Belén betrayed me. You'll pay with your lives, Maritza. That'll be on _you_."

Maritza watched Rayan turn to leave. Her younger brother was tired, easily seen, but to escape he was quick. Telekinesis wielded pipes against them to keep them busy and allow him the clear escape he wanted.

"Are you okay?" Barry helped Belén up to her feet, both having the same blood over their lips and chins.

"No..." Belén wiped the blood from her face and looked over to Maritza with uncertainty. Would Maritza fight them too and get away?

Maritza watched them all gather against her, and since she still held Joe's gun she knew what they were thinking. Slowly, she lowered the gun to the ground and straightened up with her hands in the air. The rest of the group exchanged glances amongst them, but it was Barry who sped and cuffed Maritza with meta-dampeners.

Still, Belén walked - wobbled since she was still getting control again - over. Barry watched her with concern - this could _not_ be easy at all. Belén stopped just behind Maritza, her gaze looking straight ahead and not at her sister. She just couldn't right now.

"You're under arrest, Maritza Palayta," Belén swallowed hard and turned away from her sister.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

This was...so hard to write. I thought really hard how I wanted this to go and while I'm happy about it, I'm always iffy about fighting scenes. I also threw in some fluff knowing what was coming and for that I'm guilty as charged! Maritza's back and that'll be explained in the next chapter I promise! But I guess we can say goodbye to Pixel, huh? I did that on purpose to show where Maritza is at when it comes to her old team. She is _done_.


	29. Fighting Till the End

Maritza's eyes followed her sister's constant pacing in front of her. She was sitting in side her prison pod of the pipeline. Belén was tired of crying, was tired of it all, and she just didn't know what more Maritza could throw at her by this point. Her head hurt, but she didn't know if that was because of the problems or if it was because of fact her brother had literally messed with the insides of her body only a couple hours ago.

"Belén, you're making me dizzy, just shout at me or something," Maritza wearily said.

Belén stopped and looked at her. "You think I have things to say? Maritza I have no idea how to even talk to you anymore!"

"I'm your sister-"

" _No_ ," Belén shouted so loud that Maritza flinched, "You are _not_ my sister. My sister-" she pointed at herself, "-would have _never_ hurt so many people and do what she did. She would have never left her own son!" Maritza actually flinched at how loud Belén was shouting. "YOU LEFT HIM, MARITZA! He has no idea what his mother has been up to!"

"I know what I did, I am not denying it-"

"Oh goodie, your redemption is on track-"

"It's not redemption!" Maritza exclaimed. She sighed, giving a light shake of her head. "I didn't turn things around because I felt like it. I'll admit Barry's words did kind of help me make the turn but...I've been lost for a while now. I've been...confused."

"But that didn't stop you from threatening me? Hurting me and my friends? Maritza, what the hell!?"

Belén stared hard at her sister with an incredulous expression. "It's funny. You don't even realize that there should have never been a moment for you to 'turn it around' because there shouldn't have been a moment where you decided to turn into...this," she made a gesture to Maritza's current predicament.

"I was not born this way," Maritza gritted her teeth together, her eyes falling to the side. "Wells made me like this. He made us all this way. He killed Chris, Belén-" her eyes began to tear, "-my husband. I lost him that night. And then he went and infected us all with these powers. He killed our dad, Belén. He took our family away."

Belén acknowledged the losses they had to suffer, but she would not allow her sister to dump all the responsibility on someone else. "Wells took a lot from many people, but the one thing he is not responsible for is how _you_ decided to use your powers. Look at me, Mar, look at me with my uncontrollable powers. I don't blame anyone else for them. It's on me that I haven't learned to control them, not anyone else."

"You are far stronger than me and Rayan," Maritza said with a hint of pride. "You turned yourself into a hero. You pushed through and look where you are…"

Belén scoffed. "Oh yeah, I'm Queen of the world. My dad's dead, my sister and brother are rogues, and my mom is clueless about it. Oh yeah, I'm the luckiest person in the world." She waited a moment before she could speak again without shouting. They'd effortlessly put Maritza into the pipeline, a safe distance away from Thawne, and given Belén a while to cool down before she could go and talk to Maritza. "Why did you leave us, Maritza?" she finally asked the question that'd been burning in Belén's head. "I mean...were you just that big of a coward, or...?"

Maritza took the sting of her sister's words in silence. She balled her fist and brought it up against the pod's glass wall. "I needed to know where I was in regards to you and Rayan." Belén scoffed, clearly discarding that answer as garbage. "Barry gave me an ultimatum and I realized I didn't know what side I was on anymore. I love you and Rayan-"

"-no," Belén wagged a finger, almost laughing at the absurdity she heard. "If you really love me, then you wouldn't have done everything you did. And if you really loved Rayan, then you wouldn't have let him get away with all that he's done."

"Rayan is just as troubled as I am, Belén! He was kidnapped for his powers and was forced to do dirty work for a group of thieves!"

"Yeah, and as painful as I know that was for him, it still gave him no excuse to turn evil," Belén clapped her hands together. "I get he had to...kill...to survive, as hard as that sounds to me, but the moment he was free he could have come back."

"And do what?" Maritza challenged. "Go to the cops and tell them everything? He would've gone to jail-"

"-HE'S GOING TO JAIL **NOW**!" Belén once again screamed. "At least back then he could have argued self defence! But now? Now what's he going to say? 'Sorry guys, I decided to steal and hurt people because of my troubled past'?"

"He is _dying_!" Maritza snapped, startling Belén into silence for a moment. "Those powers that gave you the gift of being a hero is the same thing that's going to kill our brother."

"You're lying," Belén frowned. "You'd say anything to be let out-"

"-I'm not interested in being set free. I wouldn't have given myself up - I wouldn't have _returned_ if I cared of being free. But that's one of the reasons why I came back, because I knew Rayan was going to get worse and do something stupid like he did earlier."

"What's wrong with him?" Belén crossed her arms, not entirely keen on believing Maritza but she would like to believe that Maritza wasn't _that_ cynical to lie about something so big.

"I don't know, but if I had to guess it's the telekinesis that's messing with his head. For some time now he's been having more headaches, he's been getting tired more easily. His powers, on the other hand, are developing fast now. But when he uses them for long periods of time, or gets stressed or..." Maritza sighed, "...or when things get too tough, blood comes out of his nose."

Belén remembered what Caitlin had mentioned after being brought back into the building. Rayan had blood oozing from his nose and eyes. _Oh my God, he's dying_. Belén shuddered a breath. "Well, if it's the truth then he needs to be here so that we can help him."

"He's not coming here, Belén," Maritza said, hoping Belén knew this already.

Belén did, but she just didn't care. "I'm sorry but since he's evil, he doesn't exactly get a pick in medical help, does he?"

"You're being unfair, Belén," Maritza said quietly though Belén heard just fine.

" _I'm_ being unfair? Are you _serious_?" Belén didn't know whether to laugh because of how ridiculous this was, or cry out of pure frustration. "I thought I could do this-" she gestured to their conversation, "-but maybe I'm not quite ready cos I still want to fight you." She headed for the control panel, deciding to continue this later when she had cooled down (again).

"Belén I know I messed up-" Maritza winced when Belén bitterly laughed but she kept going before Belén could close the pipeline, "-but I do love you and our brother, and I love my son, so please just take care of Axel for me."

"Believe me, Axel won't know any of this until he's 30," Belén spat and pushed the button to seal the pipeline. "If he's lucky."

She turned on her heels and stormed out of the pipeline. She wasn't fazed seeing Barry in the hallway near the pipeline entrance. "Your turn!" she spat, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to indicate he could talk to Thawne now.

Barry winced but decided - for safety reasons - not to say anything. He honestly could not remember her ever getting _that_ angry, but he couldn't argue it. He felt the same rage towards Thawne.

~ 0 ~

In the cortex room, the group, with Ronnie and professor Stein, were discussing the great dilemma Wells had presented to Barry.

"The rare opportunity to go back in time and right a wrong and save your mother's life... quite the paradox Harrison has presented you with, Mr. Allen." Professor Stein truly had no words to even advise Barry what to decide on.

Caitlin, on the other hand, seemed pretty clear on what she would decide if it had been her decision to make. "The chance to be with someone you love? Seems pretty cut and dry to me."

"At first blush, Dr. Snow, it would appear so, but this gift has unparalleled risk," Stein said to her. "Barry, the night your mother died, the night you saved yourself from being killed, that event altered the timeline you were already on and changed the course of history."

"So what you're saying is we're living in a parallel universe?" Cisco tried wrapping his mind around that idea considering they were living in a third parallel universe due to the fact Barry had already altered the original parallel universe.

"Just like when I time traveled before," Barry seemed to be thinking of the same thing.

"But he... he only changed one day that time," Joe said incredulously.

"Exactly. Now imagine 15 years of compounded experiences," Stein tried making his point. "One different decision, no matter how big or small, impacts everything that follows. Moments upon moments, choices upon choices. No relationships, nothing would be as it is today, and you'd never know the difference because you'd never remember any of it."

"So if I go back and save my mom, my dad doesn't go to prison. I never live with Joe and Iris…" Barry began to make the connections.

"You might never meet me. Or Caitlin or Ronnie," Cisco added and debated whether or not he should add the third and probably the most valuable person.

 _Bells_. Barry had to wonder if this time change would alter the day he met Belén through Iris. Because if he never lived with Iris and Joe, then it meant that there was a chance that he wouldn't end up being that close to Iris enough to meet some of _her_ friends. He would have liked to have Belén around so that she would at least be in the know right now, but she'd gone straight home to see Axel. No one blamed her, of course.

Still, the next person Barry needed to see was his father.

~0~

Barry decided to have a talk with his dad in hopes of getting some needed advice seeing as everyone else seemed to vary in their stances. Joe said yes, Caitlin said yes, but Cisco was an adamant no. Stein was unsure and Ronnie couldn't pick a side either. Barry was so incredibly lost.

"Dad, look. I know this sounds crazy…" Barry spoke up since Henry couldn't seem to respond after being told the opportunity that Barry was getting.

"I think we're way past crazy, slugger. Look, you're fast, I get it. But turning back time…?" Henry thought perhaps this was just another trick that could hurt Barry.

"No, I wouldn't be turning time back. I would be... going back to that night to save her."

"And what does Joe think about all this?"

"He thinks I should do it."

Henry thought for a moment, his face becoming serious when he decided, "No. You can't."

Barry gave him an incredulous stare. "Dad...I can make it so that night will never have happened," he repeated in simpler terms in case his father hadn't grasped the concept yet. "We'll be a family again."

But Henry understood perfectly what it would entail. "We _are_ a family."

"Not like this," Barry shook his head. "Not without Mom."

"Barry, there's a natural order to things, okay? Things happen the way they do. We may not know why at the time, but there must always be a reason. Now, I believe that. I've had to believe it."

Barry couldn't understand what his father was thinking in telling him all this. He was making the decision a lot harder than it should be. "I... I can _save_ Mom."

"At what cost?" Henry challenged, hoping Barry would see what this significant change would do to his life. "You said time would change. What if it changes _you_?"

"I don't care!"

" _I_ do," Henry frowned. "I am in awe of the remarkable man that you are becoming... all the things you've achieved, and not just as the Flash, but you, Barry. Your honesty. Your heart. You were always a hero. And your mom would be just as proud. And if she had a say in this, if she thought for one second that you going back to save her would mean you losing what makes you so special, she would never want that. Barry, what I hope for you, maybe the greatest thing that a father can hope for his son is that one day, you will become a father yourself. And then you will know...how much I truly love you."

Barry was in tears by the time his father finished talking. He'd come in searching for support but he was going to be leaving with far more confusion.

~0~

It was getting darker as the sun began to set in the sky's horizon. Belén sat silently on a park bench, facing the usual fountain she'd become fond of in the last year. She could see Axel playing at a distance, the little boy was happier than ever just like he usually was when he got the chance to go to the park and play. Meanwhile, Belén had spent the day thinking and thinking of her siblings. Her brother was _dying_. Her sister was going away forever. She was going to have to become a pseudo-mother to a four year old who didn't know he was about to lose his mother to prison.

What had her life become?

Belén shook her head at her silent question and made to get up when she saw Barry walking towards her. She felt a newsense of awful knowing that she'd basically deserted him when he probably needed her.

"Gotta thank Cisco for hacking your cellphone GPS," he admitted as he took a seat beside her.

"Sounds creepy, Mr. Allen," Belén side-glanced him with a small smile. "But I'll let it go on account of you being cute."

Barry smiled briefly then looked ahead, spying Axel trying to dip a hand into the fountain.

"Axel, don't you dare!" Belén's sudden call startled the boy away from the fountain. He grinned at them then ran away. "I haven't told him anything," Belén said quietly as if Axel would overhear. "I told Maritza I wouldn't tell him anything until he was 30...but now I wonder if I'm being just as bad as Maritza."

"Believe me, you could never be as...bad as Maritza," Barry felt bad for saying it out loud but Belén didn't seem so upset by it. Still, Belén didn't say anything. There was a mutual silence between them filled with pain and rage.

"You okay?" they both ended up asking each other at the same time.

"Of course," Belén lightly chuckled, but she sniffed a little louder than intended. "What did he say? Thawne? When you went to talk to Thawne, what crappy excuse did he have for everything he's done?" She thought listening to him could maybe give her the courage to talk about what Maritza had told her of Rayan.

"Oh, you know, the same old same old: he hated me so he thought by wiping me from existence we would be even," Barry tried to be nonchalant about it but of course it was an impossible thing to do. "Except I beat him so he decided to get back by killing my mother."

"Barry, I'm so sorry," Belén rubbed her hand against his arm. She didn't think she could talk about her siblings now, it felt so...irrelevant now. "He deserves to rot in prison."

"That's the thing, um..." Barry straightened on the bench, "He's...giving me the opportunity to go back in time to save my Mom. If I do that, then none of this ever happens. You don't get powers, you don't lose your dad, you don't send your sister to jail and you never have to go in search of your twin because he will never go missing."

"But we…"

Barry nodded at the question he assumed she was asking. "We run the risk of never meeting each other." Belén's eyes drifted to the side in thought. Barry sighed and scooted closer to her. "I need to know what you think."

Belén looked down at her lap, hiding her terrible fear. Of course she didn't want to lose him completely. But what was she supposed to say? ' _No, Barry, I don't_ _want you to go save your Mom because I am a selfish woman.'_

"Belén, please say something," Barry begged, reaching for her hand. He gently tugged on it, making her look up. "I am so lost. It's the biggest decision of my life, and if I'm wrong, I can't undo it. So please, talk to me, tell me _something_."

"I don't know," Belén whispered. "I mean...I have my mom, and I had my dad. I don't know what it's like growing up without either. I can't imagine what you had to go through. All I know is that every single decision you have ever made is to get the culprit of your mother's murder. I don't know," she lightly smiled and looked away, "Maybe if you save your Mom you'd have your freedom. You'd get to see your mom again, your dad, have a great career in whatever you want, even get married."

"We don't know that that's going to happen…" Barry reminded. "We may not meet…"

"Or maybe we would," Belén offered a different view. "Maybe we meet somewhere else, somewhere new and we...still end up together."

"Do you believe that?" Barry asked, looking at her with a curious look.

"You once said that you believed that you would've fallen for me whether or not I had stayed with Cisco," Belén reminded, her smile infecting Barry to give his own. "So the question now is, do you believe that we would meet each other in another world?"

Barry considered the question truthfully. He stared at her waiting face, genuinely taking her entire self in. He liked her so much, he loved everything about her. From the very first time he met her, there was something... _adorable_ about her. Her long rambling and shyness was something he would always love about her; the way she would suddenly lose all that shyness when she talked about something she truly loved. Barry thought he could never truly forget her embarrassed laughter when she felt like she didn't understand his or everyone else's scientific explanations.

"Yes," he finally said after what seemed like hours for Belén who had to endure his long stare. "I do think we would meet regardless. I can't imagine it any other way."

"Okay," Belén nodded. "So then set that aside, and do what you think you need to do. Because this isn't really about us, it's about you being happy. You always think of everyone else...so maybe this time, do what's in your heart. Do what you need to do for yourself."

Barry nodded his head, thankful for her words. Belén wrapped her arm around his and snuggled to his side.

"Do you plan on talking to Maritza again?" Barry asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"I don't know," Belén admitted. "If you do go back in time, I don't want to give her the luxury of knowing her mistakes will be forgotten." She stayed quiet again while she thought of the way she was talking about Maritza. "I've been so sad since Maritza left and now that I have her here...I'm just so angry. I don't know if I can talk to her tonight."

"Talk to her tomorrow, then," Barry suggested. Perhaps with some sleep and some more time to think she would figure out a way to stay calm while she...'discussed' with her sister.

But, Belén thought about it and she honestly believed it would have to be _months_ before she could have a conversation with Maritza without shouts. A whole year of fighting, lies and secrets could not be forgiven in one day.

There was just one thing they could do together at this point. And that was only because Maritza knew more about it.

~0~

It was incredibly early the next day when Belén returned to STAR Labs. In her suit, she strode into the pipeline with purpose and opened the pipeline up.

"I thought it'd be longer until you decided to talk to me," Maritza admitted, and she honestly wasn't that wrong.

"I'm doing it for Rayan. Because I don't want him to die," Belén walked over to the control panel again and further surprised Maritza by opening her pod.

Maritza's eyes widened but she didn't dare step out. Belén, on the other hand, merely turned for the hallway. "Hurry up!" she spat.

"Where are we going!?" Maritza called, only taking the necessary step to get out of the pod.

"We're bringing in Rayan, what else?" Belén stopped under the threshold and glanced back at her sister. "He needs to be brought in so Caitlin can look at him."

"What - we're going to force him to come?" Maritza rushed after her younger sister.

"It's either that or he dies," Belén led the way down the hallway. One could say it was pointless going on a mission to bring Rayan back when Barry was going to reset the timeline, but Belén didn't care. She couldn't leave her brother to die on his own, not when there was still something they could do to help him. "You know where he is, don't you?" Maritza didn't say anything as they stepped into the elevator. Belén side-glanced her with narrowed eyes. "I'm not asking again."

"You're not going to like what you'll find," Maritza warned. "Rayan...Rayan isn't himself anymore-"

Belén scoffed. "Yes, I think I got that from our last fight. Luckily, I'm over it. I'm bringing him in no matter what."

"Without telling the others?"

"This is my thing to deal with," Belén looked at her sister again, "It's our family issue. But if you try to escape, I won't hesitate to fight you this time."

Maritza gave a nod. She wasn't thinking of going anywhere anyways.

~0~

After deciding to go through with changing the time line, Barry had to give each of his friends some task to do in order for things to go the right way. The most particularly difficult task was to create a time machine using the plans Wells had given them. Barry led both Cisco and Ronnie into the working room full of different parts that would hopefully put together a time machine.

"So, if Wells is as fast as you, what's he need a time machine for?" Ronnie made a face that expressed how ridiculous he thought the idea was.

"Apparently he lost his speed when he killed my mom," Barry explained. "He gets it back sometimes but only in spurts. He can't fully control it."

"So I was right about the wheelchair," Cisco beamed. "He was using it to charge himself."

"So after I open the wormhole, he's gonna need the ship to travel back to the future. He's been squirreling away the parts. Now we just need to put it together." Barry gestured to one of the tables holding several of the plans and leftover pieces for them to work on.

Ronnie moved over to study it for a moment. He picked up one of the metal clamps lying there.

"Ronnie, I love you, but this is a time machine, not a bookcase from IKEA," Cisco said as Ronnie turned over the clamps.

Ronnie ignored him and shook his head. "We got a problem. These tiles... they're made of tungsten."

"Well, tungsten does have the highest melting point of any other element…"

"Yeah, but the dust it generates is flammable. The pressure exerted from the wormhole…"

Cisco finally understood the problem. "Yeah. Yeah. It could cause a hole to be melted into the exterior. It could explode."

Barry looked from one man to the next. "Any ideas?"

Cisco shook his head but purposely started out of the room. "Let me ask Dr. Evil. Which used to be a name that made me smile."

As he went out, Caitlin came running in. "Guys!" she exclaimed, looking pretty worried. "We have a problem - Maritza's gone!"

"What?" Barry frowned and moved over to meet her halfway.

"I was coming in to give her the usual breakfast like Wells but she wasn't there," Caitlin explained. "I already checked the security feed and, well…"

"What?" Barry lowered his head at the woman, partially knowing what could have happened.

Caitlin sighed. "Belén let her go. And not just that, but she took her suit too. I don't understand where they were going."

Barry only had to think a little to realize what Belén was intending. "They're going to find Rayan."

"Woah, woah, you mean psycho brother with the power to turn someone's insides out?" Cisco crazily looked between the group. "Why the hell would she want to do that?" But of course the moment he asked, he knew. "Yeah, sorry. But she can't go after Rayan on her own."

"That's probably why she took Maritza," Caitlin bit her lower lip. "But who's to say Maritza won't double-cross Bells?"

"We need to find her, now," Barry specifically looked at Cisco for that one. "Her suit's tracker is still on, right?"

"Should be," Cisco led the way into the hallway with a speedy haste.

~ 0 ~

"Why did you decide to come back?" Belén got the courage to ask midway through their trip to find Rayan. Maritza was leading the way across rooftops since neither sister wanted attention from civilian.

"I told you, I knew Rayan was going to get worse," Maritza stopped at the edge of a rooftop and put her hands together, shooting her purple mass to the next rooftop to create a makeshift bridge.

"Is that the only reason why you came back?"

"My son, of course," Maritza stepped down the edge. "I missed him. But I knew the moment that I decided to go I'd lost him."

"Where'd you go, anyways? We searched for you everywhere and you didn't show up!"

"I knew you guys had the technology to find me so I stayed in a shady part of the city. Believe me, no one messes with Plasticine there," Maritza gestued for Belén to walk across the bridge she'd made.

"What exactly are your powers made from?" Belén asked the burning question Cisco had always wondered about since they learned about Plasticine's existence.

"At my guess, play-doh," Maritza said, sounding unimpressed with her abilities. "I was working on a craft for my students when the Particle Accelerator went off, so..."

"Makes sense," Belén let her vines start crawling over her body. "But I don't need you." She disbanded into vines and disappeared through the walls.

Maritza watched - rather awed - her sister re-appear in the next rooftop like nothing. "Alright," she muttered and hopped along her makeshift bridge. Belén was already getting a head start for the next rooftop. "Belén, wait!"

" _What_?" Belén stopped and turned sideways.

"I get your mad, but I need to know things are going to be okay afterwards...with Axel."

Belén wanted to stay angry but if it concerned her nephew...then she couldn't, could she? With a sigh, she fully turned around. "Axel will be fine, Maritza. It's not like I'm going to turn him over to a foster care."

"You're the only one who knows him besides me and Chris. You _will_ look after him, right? Tuck him in...take him to school..."

"And give him his chocolate milk before and after he wakes up," Belén smiled only a little. Maritza nodded silently. "I love that little boy, Maritza. I'm not leaving him alone."

"And he loves you. You're his favorite auntie," Maritza swallowed hard then. "I don't want him to visit me in...wherever I go. I don't want him to visit me. You were right, he'll be really lucky if he never knows what happened to me."

Belén opened her mouth several times without words coming. "No...well..." she sighed. "I don't really know what would be better, honestly." She turned her back on Maritza and continued on. "Let's go."

~0~

Maritza unlocked the 20th marked warehouse and allowed her sister to go in first. Belén cautiously stepped inside and immediately saw sophisticated contraptions inside, along with countable priceless objects. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Maritza for an explanation.

"Pixel had her obsessions with jewelry," Maritza spoke quietly as she followed Belén in. "She was deranged."

"Kinda got that before you, um..." Belén trailed off when she realized they hadn't exactly talked about the fact Maritza killed Pixel. She knew her sister had already killed before, but that was before they knew who Plasticine was.

"I shot her, Belén," Maritza said for Belén. "I don't regret it."

"Not even a little bit?" Belén poked despite her own thoughts against Pixel. "I mean...we did have plans to lock her away too."

"Believe me, she would have escaped eventually. Only way to stop her was to kill her," Maritza's tone left no room for arguments. In that moment, Belén wondered how far Maritza had to have gone to be alright with murder.

"You're back," the two sisters heard from a distance. Rayan had appeared across them. His eyes narrowed on his sisters, no hint of warmth in either of them. "Traitors."

"Oh God, Rayan, you look bad," Maritza tried walking towards him but Rayan flung a hand to chuck a piece of metal. Maritza barely had time to duck and avoid being hit.

"Don't act like you care. Neither of you do."

"That's not true," Belén made her own attempt but was smarter and only took a couple steps forwards. "I know that you're sick but my friends can help you."

Rayan scoffed loudly. "Really? The same friends who want to lock me away? The same ones who told you it was better for me to be locked away? Or did you come up with that all by yourself?"

"You don't get to play victim, Rayan," Belén said cautiously. Up close she could see the hazy look in her brother's eyes. He wasn't quite _there_ anymore. "You really don't."

"And you don't get to play hero," Rayan balled his fists and flung them to the side. Belén felt the intangible force slam her body against a crate, which then shattered around her.

Belén could feel some splinters on her arms - as well as some bruises that would be forming later on - but she pushed herself up. "You're sick, and you need help. I don't want you to die."

"No, you just don't want to see me be _me_ ," Rayan smirked. The same wooden pieces from the crate now raised in the air to stab. They slammed down but Belén rolled out of the way in time. This time she cast a glare at Rayan and whipped a vine-lasso his way, hitting him across the chest.

Rayan groaned but chuckled on the floor. "You're not so against fighting anymore."

"You never were," Belén spat. She briefly looked at Maritza who, to her credit, did look guilty. "You were my brother, my big sister, and you two didn't think twice in hurting me. Why should I have the same consideration now?"

Rayan sat up with a hand on his chest. "You're _mad_. That's the way to become like us."

Belén knew that game all too well. He was taunting her, and despite her restraints she was falling for it. Yes, she angry. She was so angry with her family - with her life - and that was taking its final toll on her. Her skin started turning into an emerald green, light scales forming right after.

"Belén!" Maritza called just before she saw her two siblings charge against each other.

Belén swung first at Rayan, getting him across the face. As Rayan stumbled back, he managed to pull up a loose pipe from above and shoot it down on her. Belén put her hands together above her head, creating a net of vines to catch said pipe which then crushed it. Frustrated, Rayan decided to punch but Belén was a little more skilled in hand-to-hand thanks to her training. She ducked and went with a side kick to knock her brother down.

Rayan took the blow hard but he came back stronger. Hurt and frustrated, he balled his fists just as Belén was coming again. She gasped upon feeling the same painful blow _inside_ her body. Her eyes widened as she fell to her knees.

With a smirk, Rayan got back on his feet and towered over Belén. "For all the training you do with your Flash, it's useless against my power. I could kill you right here and now. Beat you to it."

"I...wasn't...going to - I wasn't going to kill you," Belén felt her throat tighter and wondered how the hell he'd managed to figure that trick out. "I'm _angry_ Rayan, don't you get it? I'm _sad_. You and Maritza - you just _left_ me."

"We asked you to join-"

"-YOU WANTED TO HURT ME!" Belén managed to scream. She cast a glance at Maritza who, up until now, could only watch the horror of their family's downfall. "You and Maritza just wanted me because I had powers. You wouldn't have looked twice if I'd stayed normal. That's why you wanted me to think you were dead in the beginning, right? Because I was useless."

"That's not true," Maritza slowly said, but there was a noticeable weakness in her tone.

"I wasn't _useful_ to you guys," Belén wished she could clear the tears falling on her cheeks, but her hands were locked on her sides. "You didn't care until you found out I had powers. That's when you started coming for me. And when I didn't like your plan, you didn't hesitate to start attacking me, my friends. That's not family."

"You're not my family anymore," Rayan glowered.

"I'm not," Belén agreed. The green patches on her face got darker and her eyes glowed that magenta color of its mother flower. Rayan barely had time to think before he saw the twisting vines growing from Belén's back, forming one thick lasso which then banished him to the other end of the room.

Rayan's body crashed into several more crates, breaking whatever Pixel had stored around there. Belén got up, coughing while her insides re-organized to their proper places. Rayan started fighting against the debris over his body, flinging them to the sides as quick as possible. Belén's vines started swiping everything off the tables, crates before knocking them to the sides as well.

Rayan forced himself to stand and face his advancing sister who was intending on destroying everything inside. Once more he attempted the same body crushing trick, and though Belén fell with a scream her vines kept coming for him. He squeezed his hands to the point of turning them white, letting his twin sister's screams echo throughout the room. " _You_ chose this, Belén!" he said in the midst of her screams.

"Rayan, stop!" Maritza begged. "You're not actually going to kill her, are you!?"

"To save myself? Yeah, I am!" Rayan only flung one hand down to keep Maritza's body down against the floor. "See this powers - while proving to be deadly - are very useful to me."

Belén couldn't stop screaming, not even to breath, which started turning her face purple little by little. Her creeping vines got slower because of her inability to stay focused. Still, things wouldn't end this way. If there was one thing she could still do was release the one thing she couldn't quite completely control. Through her screams, she started letting pink smoke from her mouth. The deadly Azalea poison filled the air fast and once Rayan began to feel it his power dwindled. The moment Belén felt a decent air hit her lungs, she jumped on her feet. Putting her hands together, she swung shards of vines like boomerangs and watched it take Rayan by the neck.

The twin brother's back hit the wall and while he intended on using his powers, Belén acted quicker again. Her vines shot forwards and cocooned him, leaving only necessary holes to breath. Rayan screamed and screamed but nothing could get him out.

Hearing Maritza coughing behind her, Belén realized her poison was still in the air. She prepared to take it all back in - if she could, since she hadn't really practiced that bit - but instead a gust of wind blew it away.

Barry had arrived in time and used his whirlwind trick to clear the air. What he found in sight was not an appealing sight, but it appeared Belén had finally put an end to her siblings' reign of terror.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin emerged from one of the siderooms where the newest residence was being kept in - still unconscious. Though, due to the pipeline being used, Maritza was left in the side room with Rayan. Caitlin walked up to Belén and Barry who were keenly waiting to hear what she had to say.

"What's wrong with him?" Belén quietly asked, her eyes briefly skipping to her sedated brother in the room.

"His powers are extraordinary," Caitlin began with the good part. "When he uses them, he literally uses the intangible energy around us, but...that's a big load."

"What do you mean?" Belén could so far understand the good part, but she wondered how she would do with the bad part.

"He has to use his brain to command this energy, and the more power he uses the more he requires from his brain."

"So controlling another person's body...?"

"Is deadly work," Caitlin finished for Belén. "He has to be in charge of two bodies: his and his victim's. Now if he's controlling more than one person..."

"It's worse, got it," Belén nodded. "So what's the damage?"

"In lamens terms, his body is reacting to all the heavy force he's been doing, primarily his brain. It's shutting down."

"Wha..." Belén seemed startled, and with good reason, even looking at Barry to see if she'd heard right. "Well, is there any way to reverse it?"

"I don't think there is," Caitlin sadly reported, shaking her head. "The process is just too far along to stop it. I mean...the best we could do is induce a coma to halt his brain from completely shutting down. It could heal him in a sense, but...that would be very unlikely."

"But if we do that then it's basically leaving him a vegetable," Barry thought ahead and missed Caitlin's guilty nod.

"Either way, he's not coming back," Caitlin said. "The Rayan that you knew is gone forever. Parts of his brain are already several damaged, like his frontal lobe that controls emotions. There's also his cerebral cortex that's responsible for thinking, reasoning..."

"Everything that would once make Rayan...Rayan," Belén knew enough to know where there was no hope.

"My suggestion is you get him to a hospital and...maybe call your mother," Caitlin felt horrible for leaving the tough decision to Belén, but it wasn't like anyone else could make it but their family.

"Thank you Caitlin," Belén nonetheless said, knowing Caitlin of course tried her best to help. But sometimes, things are too far gone.

"Bells," Barry barely said her name when the ombre-blonde turned on him with a bitter smile.

"I shouldn't have gone after him on my own, I know that," she said what she believed he'd been wanting to say since he got to them earlier. "But he was _my_ family and honestly... _I_ needed to do it."

Barry wasn't even going to argue. He of all people understood those moments where you felt there was only one person who should go out: yourself. So instead, he gave her the biggest hug possible. "I'm sorry," he said with a deep sigh.

"I don't even know how to tell Maritza," Belén admitted, knowing her sister was waiting in the side room to hear what Caitlin said.

"Well, if all goes well, you won't have to," Barry pressed a kiss to her temple.

He thought those would have been words of comfort, but upon further work into their task they discovered a...risk.

A black hole.

"Well, sure, there's a bit of a risk," Wells spoke through the video chat set up through his prison pod. He was looking at the rest of the team in the cortex, all seeming rather put off by his silence on this potential risk.

Stein scoffed incredulously. "I would hardly refer to possibly causing an extinction-level event as "a bit of a risk.""

"Yeah, and your accelerator's been about as reliable as the beater I drove in high school," Joe muttered.

"Let me ask you a question," Wells grew serious. "How many meta-humans... how many dangers... have we faced this year together? Or did you forget that was me fighting alongside each and every one of you? I have been planning this for almost two decades. It _will_ work."

Cisco couldn't believe the man stayed so sure of his work. "And how do we make sure we don't open a black hole in the middle of Central City?"

"So, once the wormhole stabilizes, Barry will have 1 minute and 52 seconds to alter the past and return to this time. If and when he does that, you can close the wormhole, and we can all live happily ever after. Almost two minutes. More than enough time to save Nora."

But Barry had figured out who the real winner would be. "But not enough time to stop you from going home?"

Wells just smirked. "Everything's a choice."

"And what if I'm late?"

"You won't be. I believe in you, Barry. Always have. So I guess the question is, do your friends and family believe in you as much as I do?"

~ 0 ~

"Is that...really our only option?" Maritza was in disbelief after hearing Belén relay what Caitlin told her earlier. She sat beside Rayan's bed and glanced at her brother, despondent over his pending future.

"The process is just too developed," Belén said with her arms crossed, her teary eyes glued to her brother's unconscious form.

"It's my fault," Maritza said after a minute of silence. "Oh my God it's _my_ fault. I-if I had taken him to a doctor or something-"

"-oh please don't do that," Belén leaned against a metal table of equipment. "It's not your fault, and it really does no good for anyone. Rayan chose his path like you chose yours."

"But he's - he's going to die!" Maritza could say she was almost outrage since her younger sister was taking things so quietly.

"We can put him in a coma but we'd have to bring him to a hospital-"

"-he'll be thrown in jail if he wakes up!"

"Maritza, he's going to jail anyways. He hurt a lot of people, orchestrated robberies and murders."

Maritza remained silent for another minute before another thought popped into her head. "What about Mom? Oh my God, she's going to find out-"

"-that you and Rayan are criminals?" Belén finished in a rather sour tone. "Yeah. You can take that one."

"Belén!"

"What!?"

Maritza got up from her stool, and since Caitlin was approaching from the cortex she thought there was about to be another fight - at least Maritza was in meta dampeners.

Belén leaned off the table, levelling her sister's look with a straight one. " _What_?" she spat, challenging Maritza to have the audacity to be angry with her.

Maritza knew better than that. She deserved every bit of resentment, anger and hatred that Belén had. She dropped back into her chair and watched over Rayan again. "When do I go to prison?"

Belén shifted in her spot. She wasn't going to tell Maritza anything. Was it rude? Evil even? Belén. Didn't. Care.

Caitlin cleared her throat under the threshold. She offered an awkward smile at the sisters before calling Belén to have a word.

"I just told her everything," Belén muttered as the two women walked back into the cortex. "She's taking it as expected."

"So you're not telling her about Barry changing the time line, then?" Caitlin asked.

"Nope. Feel free to judge."

Caitlin only smiled again. "Listen, Belén, I know this is probably the worst time to ask you, but...um...Ronnie asked me to marry him." Belén froze and gave Caitlin a strange look, making the scientist chuckle with embarrassment. "I know, it's a weird timing and technically there's no point but we just thought it would be a nice way to go when the time line changes. We were married."

"No, I get it," Belén said, much to Caitlin's relief. "I think it's sweet."

"Thanks," Caitlin tucked some hair behind her ear. "So, um, it's going to be short - right outside with Stein as our minister - but I would very much like it if you would be like...my maid of honor?" Caitlin scrunched her face after asking, as if expecting a huge negative reaction from Belén.

Instead, the ombre-blonde started smiling so wide one could never guess what she was going through. "Me? Seriously?"

Caitlin nodded her head. "Yeah. I don't have a lot of friends, and I think we're really good friends-"

"-oh definitely," Belén said to make Caitlin feel less nervous. It was rather funny, actually, but Belén would never say. "I would love to, Caitlin."

~0~

The team gathered outside the STAR Labs building where they had an actual green field prettying up the sight. Caitlin approached the group wearing a sleeveless wedding dress...with Belén trying to hold up the dress' tail so that it wouldn't get dirty. Belén had tried to do what she could - with Iris' help - with the short time they were given. Caitlin's hair was curled and pulled to the side with a silver hair clip, and the make up was done by Iris. The bouquet of yellow flowers were gathered up just a block away, and they looked quite pretty if Belén had to say.

Caitlin met Ronnie with the biggest smile possible. Stein took the head of the procession, and after promising that he was indeed legally able to marry them, the ceremony began.

While Stein went on, Belén wrapped her arm around Barry's, smiling genuinely. It was impossible not to think about that stupid article - hence the red cheeks they both sported for a couple minutes.

"I owe you a real ring," Ronnie held up the makeshift silver rings Cisco whipped out for them.

Caitlin couldn't stop herself from smiling. Her face may have hurt later on from it. "I don't need one. I have everything and everyone that I could ever need right here. And...if all the events of the past year have led us to this moment, it was worth it. I love you, Ronnie."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," Stein happily proclaimed.

"Stop telling me what to do," Ronnie jokingly said before kissing his wife.

~ 0 ~

"They're all waiting," Belén stood in the hallway with Barry, just the two of them for a minute before they had to go their ways. "You ready?"

"No," Barry admitted, making them both chuckle together. He sobered first and had a last chance to gaze at his girlfriend before she was wiped from his memories. "I know you're angry, you're upset, about everything that happened to you but I want you to know that out of everything that happened to us...you were the best part of my life. I don't care about my powers. You were, and will always be the best thing that ever happened to me. I am so grateful for meeting you, and I know Iris has a lot of journalist friends that I could've met but...I honestly believe it had to be you."

Belén's eyes filled with tears, bittersweet tears. "It definitely had to be _you_ ," she agreed. She reached to cup his face, smiling so sweetly Barry felt like he could have kissed her there for hours.

Barry touched her face with a gloved hand of his. "I'm going to make things better for us. You won't have to say goodbye to your family. You're going to have all of your family, you're going to write and write your articles and dance on the side-" both smiled teary smiles, "-and you're going to be happy. And even if it's not with me...I want you to know that I would be happy nonetheless...even if I can't remember it, okay?"

"Barry," Belen's lip quivered. She swallowed her tears in an attempt to talk again. "I want you to be happy with your parents. I want you to make some really good memories...until we meet again."

"Until we meet again," Barey nodded.

They pressed their lips against each other's for a final, goodbye kiss.

~ 0 ~

Barry bid goodbye to his family and friends down in the pipeline and entered the actual Particle Accelerator on his own. As the others returned to the cortex, he heard professor Stein from the speakers reminding him of the specific time slot Barry had in order to save his mother. He came face to face with Wells who was still in his prison pod.

"Well... you hold both our futures in your hands now, Mr. Allen," Wells smirked. "And I know you can do it. Now... Run... Barry. _Run_."

Barry sucked in a breath as he turned away from Wells. Once he felt the charge he needed he literally blasted into a run.

From the cortex, the others watched through the security cameras how things were going.

"The accelerator's structural integrity is holding," Ronnie read from one of the computers monitoring the Particle Accelerator. But just as he said those words, there was a violent rumble that swayed them all.

"What was that?" Belén fearfully looked around and saw some of the computers on the wall flicker on and off.

"Is Barry okay?" asked Joe.

"Yeah. He just passed Mach Two," Caitlin said with a mighty surprise.

In the Particle Accelerator, Barry had finally delved into the speed force which turned out to be a like blue vortex. As he ran faster and faster, Barry began to hear voices - voices belonging to his younger self, and Joe? And Iris. She was definitely there.

Along with that, he heard - through his ear pod - Wells speaking to him, explaining what he was seeing. "Barry, what you're seeing is the Speed Force: your past, your present, your future all at once. So you need to focus on where you want to go."

Barry tried to follow the last instructions but was having trouble as different images, all going at light speed, crossed his path. There was a blue-eyed, white haired woman reaching out on one side. A red smoke barely allowed for a second woman's figure to appear, with only a truly scarlet flower on the side of her head to be visible. Next was prison visit to his father. Then he saw a blonde-haired woman in an orange and gold suit followed by...Snart? Yeah, that was Snart.

Before Barry knew it, he had appeared in a darkish room of his old childhood home. He stumbled forwards but caught himself and began to look around hoping to find something to tell him where exactly he was. He heard familiar screams from the other side and hurried for the door blocking his way. Opening it a bit, he saw his mother screaming as she was stuck between his older version's self and Wells' ongoing fight. Barry quickly scanned the room for his younger self and of course found him and Henry on the other side of the living room. Just like that, his younger self was removed from the place and the force knocked out his father. Just as Barry moved to get Nora out, the other version of himself returned and gave a firm shake of his head.

He _couldn't_ save his mother.

Although overwhelmed with the twist, Barry obeyed and forced himself to close the door. He pressed his back to it, for if he remained standing straight he would not be able to hold himself back. He shut his eyes and wished he would stop hearing the screams of his mother, but when silence fell, he wished he hadn't. Hearing nothing then, he pulled himself off the door and opened it. He saw his father was still unconscious and his mother - who had been stabbed once again through the heart - was lying on her side, still mildly conscious.

Barry rushed over and gently laid her on her back. He couldn't believe he was touching her again, he just wished it would've been a different moment. "Hey, it's okay," he said through a shaky voice, "It's okay. You're okay."

Nora spoke through gasps and a terrible pain. "Please. My husband, my son, are they…"

"They're okay. They're both safe. I promise."

Nora shifted a bit and stared at the young man under the red mask in confusion. "Who are you?"

"I'm...I'm the Flash," Barry tried to answer in one go but his own tears were getting the best of him. He knew she only had a couple of minutes, two at the max.

"I don't understand," Nora croaked. Barry saw no point in hiding anymore. If these were going to be the last moments he truly had with his mother he wanted it to be as _himself_. He pulled back his mask and allowed Nora to see his face. "You look just like my father."

Barry smiled and leaned closer to his mother. "This won't make any sense, but it's me, Mom. It's Barry."

Nora of course didn't understand how it was possible, but as she stared more at him she saw the traces of her eight year old son. "Barry?"

"Your Barry," Barry nodded.

There was a true delight in Nora's face as she accepted he was her son. With shaking hands she reached to cup his face. "Oh, my beautiful boy."

Barry cried at the touch of his mother. "I got a second chance to come back here and...tell you that I'm okay. Dad and I are both okay. And we love you, Mom. I love you."

Nora smiled through her own tears that pooled in her eyes. "Oh, my sweet boy. Bye…" her voice started to fade and her head began to lull. "Good-bye, Barry."

"Mom!? Mom!?" Barry called but she was no longer there. She was gone.

~ 0 ~

While Cisco, Joe and Eddie went down to the pipeline to get Wells out of there, the others remained back in the cortex watching like hawks through the security cameras. So, when they all saw Barry returning through the speedforce and shattering to pieces Wells' time machine, everyone's jaws dropped.

"He's not supposed to do that!" Belén's stomach churned wondering what could cause Barry to have enough time to stop Wells from leaving.

"We have to shut down the wormhole quickly!" Stein had looked at the timer set beside them which now only had around twenty five seconds. Caitlin and Ronnie broke into a dash for the pipeline to get it done.

"What happens now!?" Iris frantically moved closer to the computers to see what was going on down in the particle accelerator.

There they saw the two speedsters going back and forth in a heated fight.

"He's going to get killed!" Belén cried and turned to the corridors. Knowing her sister's plan, Maritza blocked the way immediately. "Get out of my way!"

"He'll kill you too!"

"I don't care!"

"Well _I_ do!"

"That wasn't a problem last month!" Belén frantically screamed, pushing her sister away.

"Ten seconds, hurry!" Stein spoke into the comms. for Caitlin and Ronnie.

"MARITZA!" Belén tried pushing through but Maritza was stronger and kept her back. With green patches forming across her face, Belén swung a vine to knock her sister to the side.

"Three, two, one…" Stein released a heavy breath when he saw the generator had been turned off. "They did it. They cut the generator."

"I'm not letting her go!" Maritza shouted as her sister made a start for the exit.

"But what about Barry?" Iris pushed some of her hair back to see the ongoing fight on the computers.

Wells had slammed Barry into a wall and delivered several punches that left Barry in a disoriented state.

Up in the cortex, the group didn't know of they should start taking cover. Belén was ready to punch her sister. Maritza fired her purple mass to keep Belén literally frozen in place, but just as Belén ducked they all heard a gunshot.

Before Belen could assume, Iris let out a shrill scream.

"EDDIE!" Iris ran out of the room.

The remaining sisters hurried to the computers to see what had happened. They saw Eddie had shot himself and was on the floor while Wells had frozen in his mid-attempt to kill Barry.

"What's happening?" Barry raised his head to see Wells almost frozen in his spot.

Cisco was looking between Wells and Eddie, making the connections fairly fast. "Eddie's his ancestor. If Eddie dies, he'll never be born, and...he's being erased from existence."

Wells' appearance had shifted back to his original self - Eobard Thawne.

"Eddie!" Iris came running into the place, dropping beside Eddie on the floor. "Eddie, no, no. Stay with me, okay?"

"He was wrong, it turns out. I'm a hero after all," Eddie strained to speak to her.

"You are, Eddie," Iris nodded, cupping his face. "You are _my_ hero."

"That's all I ever wanted to be. Your hero," Eddie gave her one last smile before dying.

Iris shouted frantically as she saw him die in her arms. "NO! No! Eddie!"

Wells' body was cracking as if it were land but with a bright shining light emerging between the cracks. He glanced at Barry as he began to disintegrate. "I've controlled your life for so long, Barry. How will you get along without me?" he screamed as he disappeared completely.

There were no more Thawnes.

Suddenly, the ground shook again and the wormhole reopened. It rose from the floor, getting bigger and sucking things up.

"Guys, that's not good," Cisco began to back away as parts of the time machine were pulled forwards.

Barry quickly got to his feet and rushed for the others. "We got to go!"

Joe tried pulling Iris from Eddie's side but the woman wouldn't budge. "Iris, we have to go!"

"I'm not leaving him!"

"We have to go now, honey. I'm sorry!" Joe forced Iris to get up and they ran out.

As they passed the cortex the room, Stein, Maritza and Belen were coming out as well.

"Barry! My brother!" Belén ran into him and pointed to the cortex.

"We gotta go!" Barry didn't hesitate to grab her hand and lead her out. He was not risking her staying behind for anything.

As they ran into the street they saw the massive wormhole - now blackhole - settling up in the sky, sucking anything it could tear apart.

"So that's what we didn't want to happen!" Cisco had to almost shout to be heard through the strong wind.

"What's it doing!?" Caitlin exclaimed as well.

"Feeding," answered Stein. "A singularity won't stop, not even after the earth is gone. I'm afraid the accretion disc has already assembled!"

"What?" Barry looked at him.

"The diffuse material that's in orbital motion around the singularity-"

"What does that mean!?" Belén practically screamed at the professor to get the message out already in terms everyone could understand.

"We have to disrupt the motion. Basically it's just like the tornado, only upside down," Barry finally explained better. "And bigger. And scarier."

"Barry, that event has an energy level of at least 6.7 Tera Electron Volts. It cannot be stopped," Stein warned the metahuman once he assumed Barry would venture to close it.

"I have to try," Barry put his mask back on.

"Don't go," he heard the desperate plea from Belén beside him.

He could see the fear in her eyes but it just made him want to go even more. She had suffered because of him, and mow because the time line didn't change, he only had this to make up for it. He _would_ make it better for her. No more would she suffer because of him.

"You're going to be okay," he promised her. "I won't make you hurt ever again."

With that promise, he sped off to go save the world, leaving Belén to ponder what those words would truly mean. Because if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that that promise had not been for the wormhole.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

To be continuuuuued in _**Rise Up**_ already published on my profile!

I want to thank everyone who's read, commented, favorited and liked this story! I really hope you all move onto the second story and continue to like what you read!

P.S I'm also trying to think of a name for the collection of Belén's stories so if anyone has an idea let me know and if I do like it I'll credit you for it! :)

Sooo, just for fun, I decided to add a couple fun facts about the story while it was in its drafting stage, as well some other things I thought of! If they're boring then I'll never do it again I promise! :)

 **Fun facts:**

1\. Originally, Belén's name was going to be Maria-Belén, but was instead changed to Annah-Belén.

2\. I got Belén's name off of a soap opera I was watching at the time of drafting this story, which turned out to be one of my favorite soap operas ever. The character I got the name from was an evil woman - nothing like my Bells!

3\. Belén's last name "Palayta" is a play off from a favorite actress of mine, Dominika Paleta ;)

4\. As of right now, I have written 3 stories - including this one - with Belén and Barry and I am brainstorming for the 4th story (4th season) at the moment.

5\. Out of all of my OCs (which are about 33), Belén is one of the two main OCs who have siblings that are alive (not Rayan anymore of course).

6\. I originally was thinking about adding in the Barry dating Linda plot but ultimately decided against it because I didn't want to drag out even more Barry and Belén getting together...plus, I really love Linda and I wanted to keep both girls as friends rather than frenemies.

7\. Belén's powers were inspired by Poison Ivy, a character that Belén will actually get to meet in the future.

8\. Originally, I intended on killing off Maritza but I felt bad leaving Belén an only child, and Axel with absolutely no mother, for no good reason.

9\. I decided a while ago to introduce two new OCs in the next story that will become new OCs from two more Arrowverse shows and Belén & Barry will be connected to one of them.

10\. This doesn't pertain to the story, but Belén's name is taken from a Christmas song that's usually heard in the Latin community: "Camino en Belén."

11\. I recently discovered there's an actual song called "It Had To Be You"; I heard the song as a cover by Samantha Dorrance & Barry Hammond! Go check it out!


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